Kesha Allegedly Accused Dr. Luke Of Raping Other Artists In Texts To Lady Gaga

The arduous legal battle between Dr. Luke and Kesha has now reached unnerving heights. Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald has recently filed documents requesting a judge to add a defamation claim against Kesha in his lawsuit. According to Dr. Luke’s amended complaint, his team discovered Kesha sent texts to Lady Gaga claiming Dr. Luke raped other artists.

Kesha’s allegedly false accusations have been widely circulated throughout the music industry. Dr. Luke asserts the “TiK ToK” singer is on a “malicious campaign to destroy” his reputation and career, Dr. Luke’s lawyer, Christine Lepera, said in a statement to the Daily Mail.

Here's a breakdown of yesterday's Kesha vs Dr. Luke news. Both are scheduled to give depositions later this week #FreeKesha (via @billboard) pic.twitter.com/6nsvg6uQdD

— Kesha Today (@KeshaToday) February 1, 2017

“Kesha initiated a text message conversation with Stefani Germanotta, the recording artist who is professionally known as ‘Lady Gaga.’ During this text message conversation, Kesha falsely and baselessly asserted that Kesha and another female recording artist (the ‘Other Recording Artist’) had both been raped by Gottwald … Since this text message conversation, Lady Gaga has spread negative messages about Gottwald in the press. Indeed, Lady Gaga has gone so far as to suggest during a radio interview that she possesses secret information regarding Gottwald that is damaging to him. Lady Gaga’s statements during this radio interview were thereafter repeated and spread widely by many international media outlets.”

Dr. Luke is alleging that Kesha and her mother are actively engaging in a “smear campaign,” and that the artist refuses to fulfill her contractual obligations.

“Dr. Luke seeks to add an additional defamation claim against Kesha based upon the discovery of another false and defamatory statement she made about him that was part of her calculated effort to harm his reputation and business… Kesha’s new proposed counterclaim simply repeats the meritless and untrue allegations that were set forth in her earlier pleadings and which Dr. Luke fully disputes.”

“… Kesha’s false accusation that Gottwald raped the Other Recording Artist has been widely circulated throughout the music industry … thereby causing further grievous damage to [Luke]’s reputation and business, just as Kesha intended… As Lady gaga observed in this text message conversation, ‘it will NOT [b]e easy for’ her [i.e. the Other Recording Artist] or any artist to work w[ith] him [i.e. Gottwald] after this.”

Kesha again filed her own legal docs claiming Dr. Luke is seeking revenge against her, and as a result, she has not been allowed to release new music. Her lawyers claim that Dr. Luke has “verbally abused and physically threatened Kesha during the parties’ contractual relationship.”

On January 5, the Inquisitr reported that Lady Gaga and Katy Perry became involved in the ongoing legal battle between Kesha and Dr. Luke. A text message that Kesha sent to Lady Gaga was presented as part of the hearing on December 26, 2016. A judge allowed Dr. Luke to show the texts that were from April of 2016 to the “Poker Face” singer and Katy Perry.

The Kesha/Lady Gaga texts at the center of the new claim do not refer specifically to the name Dr. Luke. However, the Sony producer firmly believes the insinuation is quite clear.

Dr. Luke also sued Kesha’s lawyer after the lawyer claimed on social media that the music producer raped Lady Gaga in 2014. Dr. Luke and Lady Gaga have both denied the allegation.

Kesha’s team maintained that Dr. Luke has “absolute and complete control over every material decision facing Kesha’s career despite leading the Court to believe that she would be allowed to work without Dr. Luke’s ‘involvement.'”

Kesha’s counterclaim says Dr. Luke has admitted to withholding royalty statements and royalties that were due and owed to Kesha for over two years. According to the Daily Mail, Kesha claims Dr. Luke’s actions are a means of punishment and coercion and is a result of Kesha speaking up.

In April of 2016, the Daily Mail reported that a judge at the New York State Supreme Court dismissed Kesha’s counterclaims against Dr. Luke for employment discrimination, gender-based hate crime, and infliction of emotional distress.

The California case was dropped in August of 2016, but the legal battle in New York is still ongoing.

The Future Of Kesha’s Music

Since October of 2014, Kesha has been tied up in a legal battle with Dr. Luke, the founder of her label, Kemosabe. In February of 2016, Kesha’s attempted to obtain a preliminary injunction against Dr. Luke and Sony Music but failed. Kesha’s legal team appealed, insisting her work for Sony to be comparable to “slavery,” according to the Daily Mail.

Kesha’s counterclaim also states the relationship between herself and Dr. Luke is comparable to being in a destructive marriage without a possibility of divorce.

“You can get a divorce from an abusive spouse. You can dissolve a partnership if the relationship becomes irreconcilable. The same opportunity—to be liberated from the physical, emotional, and financial bondage of a destructive relationship—should be available to a recording artist.”

Dr. Luke has produced some of the biggest pop hits of the past decade and has worked with stars including Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, and Kelly Clarkson. Several of Katy Perry’s songs, including “Roar,” “California Gurls,” and “I Kissed a Girl,” were produced by Dr. Luke.

According to People, Kesha is credited with co-writing all of the tracks on two of her LPs, 2010’s Animal, 2012’s Warrior, and her 2010 EP Cannibal. Kesha also co-wrote the song “Timber,” a 2013 collaboration with Pitbull.

Kesha hasn’t released an LP for Kemosabe since her 2012 album, Warrior. The last EP Kesha released was her 2013 record, Deconstructed. It has been reported that Sony Music has since furnished Kesha with a list of producers Kesha can collaborate with. As a result of these new collabs, Kesha will drop a single called “True Colors” featuring Zedd, this April.

Sony revealed that new Kesha music is on its way to the public, according to BuzzFeed News.

“We hope to share exciting new music with Kesha’s fans soon.”

[Featured Image by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]