Kesha appeals judge’s decision to not release her from contract

By Sam Barsanti  |  March 22, 2016 | 1:26am
Aux Features Music

In February, a judge in New York rejected Kesha’s request to be let out of her recording contract with Sony, explaining that doing so would cause the enormous company “irreparable harm.” Kesha has been fighting legal battles against Sony and her longtime producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald for years, alleging that Gottwald has continuously assaulted her (both verbally and sexually) and that Sony knew about it but chose not to do anything in order to maintain its relationship with the successful producer. The judge pointed out that Sony is willing to let Kesha work with someone other than Gottwald, but her attorney says that a move like that still wouldn’t go far enough to free her from her alleged abuser.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter says that Kesha has filed to appeal that judge’s decision, taking her fight to be freed from her contract another step further. In the new papers that were filed, Kesha’s attorney refers to a section of the original judge’s ruling that claims “you can’t force someone to work…in a situation in which they don’t want to work,” arguing that the court is doing precisely that by preventing Kesha from getting out of her contract. He also says that the judge didn’t give enough weight to testimony from music industry people about how badly this could damage Kesha’s career and notes that any “potential harm” that may come to Sony if it loses Kesha could be solved with money, while Kesha is unable to make music (or money) while she’s under this contract.

It’s unclear when an appellate court might get to Kesha’s case, but either way it’s clear that this whole thing is far from over.

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