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Sony Reportedly Refuses to Let Kesha Record New Music Without Her Alleged Rapist

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If you were wondering why pop star Kesha hasn’t put out any new music since being featured on Pitbull’s 2013 smash hit “Timber” there’s an unsettling reason. The singer has put her career on the line in an attempt to free herself from being forced to work with producer Dr. Luke, who she says sexually and emotionally abused her for ten years.

In October 2014 Kesha, whose birth name is Kesha Rose Sebert, filed a lawsuit against producer Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald, aka Dr. Luke, for alleged sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, emotional abuse, and violation of California business practices during their 10 years of working together. The lawsuit states,

For the past ten years, Dr. Luke has sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused Ms. Sebert to the point where Ms. Sebert nearly lost her life. Dr. Luke abused Ms. Sebert in order to destroy her self-confidence, self-image, and self-worth so that he could maintain complete control over her life and career.

In Kesha’s graphic account of some of the alleged abuse, she says on one occasion she woke up naked in Dr. Luke’s bed, sore and sick, and with no memory of how she got there after he allegedly gave her “sober pills,” that she now believes to have been the date rape drug GHB.

Dr. Luke responded to the allegations with a lawsuit of his own against Kesha and her management, alleging that Kesha fabricated the rape allegations in an attempt to breach her contract.

A spokesperson for Dr. Luke told the Hollywood Reporter,

If Kesha now regrets her career being mired in legal proceedings, it’s entirely her making. It was Kesha who chose to file a lawsuit falsely alleging abuse to gain advantage in contract negotiations, and now she must accept the consequences of her improper actions. As long as she continues to stand by her false claims of abuse against Dr. Luke and remains in breach of her contracts, he will continue to protect his professional and personal reputation, as well as his contractual rights, in a court of law. He looks forward to obtaining judgments in his favor.

Now, it’s one year later and Kesha says she’s struggling to keep her career afloat, because she refuses to continue recording new music with her alleged abuser. Kesha is still locked in a contract obligating her to complete three more studio albums with Dr. Luke and his Kemosabe Records label, which is owned by Sony.

This summer she expanded her lawsuit to include Sony, alleging that they supported and “ratified” his behavior. Despite the serious allegations against Dr. Luke, Sony reportedly has no plans to allow her to record with another producer. Clearly you can see Kesha’s dilemma: she can either (a) finish out her contract with her alleged abuser, or (b) watch her career tik-tok away.

Supporters have rallied behind her with the help of trending hashtags #FreedomforKesha and #SonySupportsRape.

Kesha recently filed another preliminary injunction in the hopes of pushing a judge to rule on her case. According to the LA Times, Kesha’s attorney, celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, notes in the new filing that Kesha’s “brand value has fallen” and that if the court doesn’t do something soon her career might fall “past the point of no return.”

If the court doesn’t rule on her case soon Kesha may have no other option than to fulfill her contract with Dr. Luke. But any music made under that kind of duress will most likely never measure up to her previous success.

Alexis Evans
Alexis Evans
Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.
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