#Free Kesha: Legal Battle Continues to Silence Artist

Kesha_2011_profile
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It seems like the “Tik Tok” singer Kesha Rose Sebert has been gone for awhile. From top hits such as “Die Young,” “Your Love Is My Drug,” and “We R Who We R” to silence, the once emerging pop princess has been tied up in a legal battle since 2014 with her producer Dr. Luke of Sony Music Entertainment.

This legal battle is preventing Kesha from producing any music. If you have not been following the glitter loving singer on Twitter you may not be aware that in 2014 Kesha filed for an injunction that would void her contract with Dr. Luke.

According to the formal complaint filed by Geragos&Geragos, for Kesha, “Dr. Luke sexually, physically, and verbally abused Ms. Sebert for a decade in order to make her feel completely worthless and maintain complete control over her life.” The document goes on to cite several examples of the abuse where Dr. Luke gave Kesha what he called “Sober Pills” which she claims were a form of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), also known as the “date rape drug,” as well as Dr. Luke’s continued verbal abuse pertaining to how worthless Kesha was in comparison to other stars such as “You are not that pretty, you are not that talented, you are just lucky to have me” and “Go finish the song so I can buy a yacht.”

“You are not that pretty, you are not that talented, you are just lucky to have me”

Kesha filed the injunction with the plans to recording with any producer from Sony that is not Dr. Luke. Unfortunately, her current contract states that she has to produce eight more records with Dr. Luke before moving on to a different producer.

Dr. Luke is counter suing for defamation of character. His lawyer Christine Lepera released a statement, “As set forth in the complaint that we have filed on behalf of Dr. Luke, Kesha and her mother are engaged in a campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements about Dr. Luke to third parties, including scurrilous and false statements of purported physical and mental abuse of Kesha. These are allegations that Kesha and Pebe [her mother] have themselves admitted are false. The complaint explains that Kesha and her mother Pebe have wielded these defamatory statements in an attempt to extort Gottwald into releasing Kesha from her exclusive recording agreement with Dr. Luke.”

What Lepera is referring to is back in 2011 when Kesha herself swore under oath that “Dr. Luke never made sexual advances on me.” Kesha’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, cited that Kesha was frightened of the power Dr. Luke had over her and was too scared at the time to stand up to him.

Despite the back and forth nature of the lawsuits, Kesha’s fan base has been overwhelmingly supportive, creating a petition to encourage CEO of Sony, Doug Morris, to “voluntarily terminate” Kesha’s contract. Currently 114,213 people have signed this petition in support and solidarity.

Groups even organized a protest called #FreeKesha to rally at Kesha’s first hearing on Jan. 26. The hearing is rescheduled for Feb. 19. You can find and sign the petition at www.thepetitionsite.com “#FreeKesha! Tell Sony Not to Force Her to Work With Her Alleged Abuser.”

 

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