Kesha’s career is “effectively over” if her lawsuit against Dr. Luke isn’t resolved
Last year, Kesha filed a lawsuit against Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, her longtime producer, for allegedly verbally and physically assaulting her for years. Dr. Luke filed a countersuit, claiming Kesha was merely trying to extort him so she could get out of her contract, and Kesha responded earlier this summer by expanding her lawsuit to include all of Sony Music, which she argues chose to ignore that Dr. Luke was drugging and raping her—thereby putting her and other female artists in danger. Unsurprisingly, the story is now getting even uglier.
As reported by Yahoo, Kesha has filed an injunction in hopes of forcing a judge to make a decision, with her lawyer explaining that—because she’s still stuck in her contract with Sony and Dr. Luke and clearly doesn’t want to work with them—her “brand value has fallen.” He adds that if the court doesn’t do something soon, “Kesha will suffer irreparable harm, plummeting her career past the point of no return.” Former CEO of Universal Music Jim Urie put it much more directly, saying, “If Kesha cannot immediately resume recording…her career is effectively over.” So far, there’s no word on if Kesha’s injunction has done anything.
Meanwhile, Sony has responded to her allegations, with the company choosing to take the brave and noble stance of saying “hey, don’t blame us” by explaining to a judge that it has simply been “caught in the crossfire.” However, as toothless as Sony’s comment was, the response from Dr. Luke’s camp is openly vicious: “If Kesha now regrets her career being mired in legal proceedings,” a spokesperson for Dr. Luke said, “it’s entirely her making.” So, in other words—assuming that what Kesha says is true—they’re telling Kesha that it’s her fault that her career is being ruined, because she chose to sue Dr. Luke for abusing her. (In the interest of journalistic integrity, we’ll refrain from calling that particular tactic “victim-blaming bullshit,” but rest assured we’re thinking it.)