Pop star Kesha, who has been out of the super star spotlight for years, has been making headlines following her plea to be released from her contract with Sony. Her request stems from a claim that Sony’s most lucrative producer, Dr. Luke, drugged and raped Kesha in 2006 when she first signed with the label. Kesha was denied an injuction by a New York judge that would release her from her contract, forcing her to make at least six more albums with the company that employs her alleged rapist.
This story is getting a lot of media attention and Kesha is getting an outpouring of support from her fans as well as other celebrities, such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift (who donated $250,000 to Kesha to ease financial burdens). This story, although very high profile, is not unique. In many instances, victims of rape and sexual assault will encounter their perpetrator after the assault. They see them at parties, they work with them, they go to school with them. There are countless instances of rape in which the media downplays effects on the victim, instead choosing to focus on perpetrator and “what a shame it is that he was suspended from school when he had so much potential.”
The fact that Kesha was denied release from her contract due to the financial ramifications it would hold for Sony, regardless of the mental and emotional strain it places on Kesha, is absolutely shameful and emphasizes a huge societal problem. Kesha’s story reflects a societal pandemic in which the needs of survivors of interpersonal violence are easily and unjustly dismissed and devalued. #FREEKESHA