Pop singer Kesha forced to keep recording contract with producer Dr Luke
POP singer Kesha has been forced to keep her recording contract with producer Dr Luke, a man who she says raped and abused her.
Julia Marsh
New York PostFebruary 20, 201611:26pm
Pop star Kesha leaves the Supreme court in New York on Friday. Kesha is fighting to wrest her career away from a hit maker she says drugged, sexually abused and psychologically tormented her and still has exclusive rights to make records with her. Picture: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer.Source:AP
POP singer Kesha burst into sobs in Manhattan civil court Friday when a judge ruled that she couldn't break her exclusive recording contract with Sony and music producer Dr. Luke — even though the performer says the producer raped her and called her a "fat f***ing refrigerator."
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich said that Kesha would not have to work directly with Dr. Luke, whose real name is Luke Gottwald.
"She's being given the opportunity to record, she can record," Judge Kornreich said. "She does not have to have any interface at all with Mr. Gottwald in recording or producing."
A lawyer for Kesha, whose full name is Kesha Rose Sebert, had argued that the singer's "been on ice for two years" because she was tied to an exclusive recording contract with Dr. Luke.
"She doesn't want to work with him," Kesha's lawyer Mark Geragos told the judge.
Producer Dr. Luke says the singer is slinging falsehoods and ruining his reputation to try to weasel out of her recording contract and strike a new deal. Picture: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer.Source:AP
The two are embroiled in cross-country legal battles, with Kesha, 28, suing Dr. Luke, 42, in California saying he raped her in an aeroplane and drove her to eating disorders.
He even allegedly called her a "fat f***ing refrigerator," at one point, according to court papers.
Dr. Luke counters that the claims are "blatant extortion."
He countersued his former star in New York saying she fabricated the allegations to get out of her contract.
Dr. Luke wants to keep Kesha tied to her contract because he credits himself with her success, his lawyer said in court.
"When Kesha was discovered by my client she was no one," the lawyer, Christine Lepera, said. "He made her famous."
Could Kesha Really Be the Next Adele?
Sony Music claims Kesha could make a huge comeback just like Adele. Kesha, who is embroiled in a legal battle with Sony Music and producer Dr. Luke, hasn't released an album in over three years.
Dr. Luke attends the 30th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards. Picture: Paul A. Hebert/Getty Images.Source:Getty Images
Kornreich refused to release Kesha from the agreement, a ruling that caused the 28-year-old singer to start crying in the back of the courtroom. A handful of fans who were in the courtroom also started sniffling.
Justice Kornreich didn't buy Kesha's arguments that Sony and Dr. Luke were trying to "destroy" her career.
"It's not in their best interest not to make money and not to promote a recording artist in whom they've invested a lot of money," Kornriech said.
The judge said she would issue another decision in the coming days about the validity of Kesha's sexual-assault claims against the famed producer, who also works with Katy Perry and Rihanna.
(L-R) Singer Adam Lambert, Songwriters of the Year Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke Gottwald and singer Ke$ha pose onstage at the 28th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards in 2011. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images.Source:Getty Images
Kesha says Dr. Luke was a sexual pariah — snorting drugs on a plane ride then forcing himself on her and pushing her to take "sober pills" that were actually a date rape drug. She later woke up naked in his bed, "sore and sick with no memory of how she got there," according to her suit.
Dr. Luke's lawyer, Jeffrey Movit, said Kesha waited too long to bring the sexual-assault claims. She's alleged incidents occurred in 2005 and 2008.
"This is disgusting. She doesn't deserve this," one fan, Lindsay Scarpa, 18, told The Post outside court. Kesha, dressed in a glamorous cream-coloured pants suit, comforted her supporters with hugs and words of "it's OK," after the proceeding.
She left the lower Manhattan courthouse in a black SUV while a horde of 100 screaming fans yelled, "Free Kesha Now!"
This article originally appeared on The New York Post.
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