Lady Gaga continues to stand by Kesha, after Kesha lost her lawsuit to get out of her contract with Sony Music. Kesha has sued music producer Dr. Luke for allegedly mentally, physically, and sexually abusing her, but her contract with Sony states she has to produce with Dr. Luke or she can’t make music at all.
#FreeEveryWoman #FreeKesha pic.twitter.com/9Vxea77RHO
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) March 3, 2016
During an interview with Carson Daly on Monday morning, March 7, Lady Gaga discussed her performance of “Til It Happens To You” at the Academy Awards and how much that meant to her.
“I think anytime anyone’s been through something that’s hard for them, if you don’t tell somebody or share your story with other people, it’s almost like there’s a bit of you that’s hiding,” Lady Gaga said. “And I think that I never really realized what a big part of me this was until I had to face it on a world stage like that.”
MTV reports that Gaga previously admitted she was only 19 when she was raped by someone in the industry. For Lady Gaga, watching Kesha go through such a similar ordeal is “devastating.”
Gaga stated, “I feel like [Kesha’s] being very publicly shamed for something that happens in the music industry all the time to women and men and I just want to stand by her side because I can’t watch another woman that went through what I’ve been through, suffer.”
Lady Gaga also said she talks to Kesha every day and sees her as a close friend. Since the judge ruled with Sony in Kesha’s legal battle, almost a month ago, many pop stars have come to Kesha’s aid. Taylor Swift donated $250,000 to Kesha’s legal case and Adele spoke about the issue when she accepted her award for British Female Solo Artist at the Brits. Other stars have been supporting Kesha with the #FreeKesha on Twitter.
Disgusted by anyone in power positions abusing their authority. My heart breaks for Kesha and all people affected by this toxicity. Fuck.
— h (@halsey) February 19, 2016
“I feel like it’s my responsibility to stand up for her,” continued Gaga on the show. “I think we know people in power can you use their power for bad things and that’s just reality and it’s just not fair to women or men when those powers are used against them.”
Lady Gaga then goes on to discuss that for many celebrities, it is hard to give their full support to Kesha because of the backlash it could have on them professionally.
“If you don’t keep quiet someone will come after you,” said Lady Gaga. “I’m trying to stand by her but I’m also trying to protect myself.”
However, Lady Gaga then went on to say that the only way artists could survive in the industry is to work together and support each other.
“If [artists] don’t stick together we won’t be heard,” Lady Gaga stated.
Kelly Clarkson seems to agree with this idea. Earlier this week she spoke up about being forced to work with Dr. Luke in the past .
“I only worked with him because I literally got blackmailed by my label,” Clarkson said on the Kyle & Jackie O show. “They were like, ‘We will not put your album out if you don’t do this.’”
While more people begin to support Kesha, Gaga’s powerful song “Til It Happens To You” continues to gain recognition. The song hit the charts for the first time this week, coming in at No. 95 on the Hot 100 , according to Billboard .
As Lady Gaga and others continue to be champions for sexual assault victims, hopefully cases like Kesha’s will be handled differently in the future.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment]