Kesha recently suffered a setback in her battle to be released from her contract with Sony, which basically requires her to work with producer Dr. Luke if she wants her resulting albums to be promoted, despite the fact that she’s alleged he verbally and sexually assaulted her some years ago. As we reported on Friday, a Manhattan judge has denied the singer an injunction that would have effectively nullified her contract and allowed her to get back to the business of making music.
Many of the singer’s fans were at the courthouse and even in the courtroom, showing their support with signs that read “Free Kesha,” echoing the sentiments of a website that’s tracked the singer’s struggles with Dr. Luke and Sony, as well as that of a Twitter campaign. And Kesha can count her artistic peers among her supporters, as Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and Lily Allen (among others) have offered up sympathetic words following the outcome.
Demi Lovato and Fiona Apple have been somewhat more outspoken, expressing their frustration and anger over the matter via social media, including a photo of Apple showing her support of Kesha that’s been shared by Margaret Cho and Miley Cyrus.
Taylor Swift has also piped up on the situation, in a sense, as Billboard reports (via The Hollywood Reporter) that Swift has donated $250,000 to help Kesha during this “trying time.” Additionally, more than 225,000 fans have already signed a Change.org petition, pledging to boycott Sony while also urging the music company to free the singer from her contract.