WARNING: This post discusses sexual assault.
Kesha is set to be back in court again, appealing the denial of an injunction she filed last year again Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, her former producer and the man she alleges emotionally and sexually abused her. She seeks an exit from her contract with Sony that compels her to work both with the label and Dr. Luke himself.
The terms of the contract, which were upheld by a court this month, dictate that she must work with Dr. Luke on any music she records and performs as an artist.
Kesha alleges that Dr. Luke sexually abused her over the course of their professional relationship since she was signed to his label Kemosabe Records in 2005.
Though the court suggested that the terms may be flexible and that Kesha need not need to explicitly work with Dr. Luke himself, her lawyer Mark Geragos says that this is a fundamental misreading. “The Court erred in basing its decision on its finding that Kesha could record without interference from Gottwald,” he wrote in the filing for the appeal.
“Although it recognised that ‘slavery was done away with a long time ago’ and that ‘you can’t force someone to work… in a situation in which they don’t want to work,’ the Court’s ruling requiring Kesha to work for Gottwald’s companies… does just that.”
This is obviously a very messy situation, occurring both in the midst of a large outpouring of support from both fans and fellow artists, as well as repeated denials from Dr. Luke’s camp. Rumours emerged that Sony were looking to dump Dr. Luke, but this hasn’t eventuated, and no comment has been made.
Expect this one to take a long time to resolve.
If this post has been triggering, please speak to the guys over at 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
Source: Entertainment Online.
Image: Getty Images / Roy Rochlin.
