On April 3, Kesha claimed that she was “offered freedom” — most likely referring to her contract with Dr Luke — if she were to lie and say that she “never got raped”. A spokesperson for Dr Luke has since responded to this allegation by branding her statement a “publicity stunt”.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, the pop singer wrote that she was given the opportunity to sever ties with the songwriter and producer, who she claims sexually assaulted her, if she were to deny the allegations and apologise.
“THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS behind closed doors,” a caption underneath a selfie of the singer on Instagram reads. “I will not take back the TRUTH. I would rather let the truth ruin my career than lie for a monster ever again.” It it not yet clear who she claimed made these offers.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Dr Luke’s spokesperson has denied all allegations made by Kesha on Sunday, reporting that her motives are geared towards “personal enrichment”.
“The Court repeatedly stated Kesha is already free to record without Dr Luke, and that she had not presented any facts supporting her claims. That’s because all the evidence — including Kesha’s own videotaped sworn testimony — show her allegations are false,” the statement explains. “The only thing Kesha is not free to do is to continue to lie about Dr Luke through publicity stunts and outrageous smears, ignoring the fact that by her own free will she went to work and entered into new contracts with Dr Luke years after this ‘incident’ supposedly happened. Her goal all along has been solely personal enrichment by seeking to break contracts that brought her success and millions so she can enter into more lucrative ones. We look forward to our day in court holding Kesha accountable for her lies.”
On March 22, Kesha launched an appeal against the court ruling last month that decreed she must stay in her recording contract with Dr Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald. Attempts to have an injunction filed against her contract with Kemosabe — a Sony imprint run by Gottwald — were denied in February by a New York judge. Justice Shirley Kornreic, however, had accepted an offer by Sony that stated that Kesha was free to record without Gottwald, despite his role as songwriter, producer and label boss.
In October 2014, Kesha, who was signed to Kemosabe in 2005 aged 18, filed a lawsuit against Gottwald, requesting to be freed from her contract on grounds of sexual assault, harassment, unfair business practices and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Gottwald countersued for breach of contract.
