New Delhi:
Singer Kesha’s legal battle has taken a new turn against Dr. Luke when when a New York judge denied her a court injunction. She has been trying her best to scrap her contract with Kemosabe Entertainment, part of Sony Records, because she accused her producer, Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald) of sexually assaulting her.
Kesha had filed a lawsuit in 2014 against him and Dr. Luke also quickly responded by filing a defamation suit against her and her mother, Pebe.
Kesha had filed a request for a temporary injunction, which would allow her to record music elsewhere while her case is pending. On Friday, her request for that injunction was denied.
Singer and songwriter Taylor Swift has also agreed to give the singer $2,50,000 including other lady singers like Lady Gaga, Lorde, Grimes, Lily Allen and Kelly Clarkson who have publicly supported the singer-songwriter.
Here is a complete break down to the story for a clearer view:
Who is Dr. Luke?
Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald, a former guitarist for the Saturday Night Live band and a protégé of superproducer Max Martin.
Luke has production credits on some of the 21st century's biggest hits: Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone," Pink's "U + Ur Hand," Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" and Miley Cyrus's "Party in the U.S.A."
What kind of relationship did they (Kesha and Luke) had before the lawsuit?
Luke was the executive producer for both of Kesha's albums. After "Die Young" was pulled from radio stations in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, Kesha said that she was "forced" to sing the Dr. Luke-produced track's chorus — "let's make the most of the night, 'cause we're gonna die young" — on Twitter.
Later she clarified it in a post on her website, “Forced is not the right word. I did have some concerns about the phrase 'die young' in the chorus when we were writing the lyrics especially because so many of my fans are young and that's one reason why I wrote so many versions of this song.”
What does Free Kesha mean?
In 2013, some of Kesha’s fans started a petition break off the relationship between Kesha and Dr. Luke saying that he was “controlling Ke$ha like a puppet, feeding her what she doesn’t want and her creativity is dwindling.”
Few months later, Kesha was was admitted to a rehab center to treat an eating disorder. According to her mother, Luke had pressured her daughter to lose weight, comparing her to a refrigerator.
This Free Kesha movement has the fans and supporters who have actually created a GoFundMe campaign to raise enough money to drag her out of this tussle.
Kesha’s lawsuit against Dr. Luke
The lawsuit is looking to void Kesha's contracts with Dr. Luke and his business subsidiaries It will allow Kesha to work with other labels and publishing units and receive damages. It also claims that over the 10 years leading up to its filing, Dr. Luke had "sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused Ms. Sebert to the point where Ms. Sebert nearly lost her life," all in the service of his being able to "maintain complete control over her life and career."
How did he respond?
On October 2014, he countersued Kesha Pebe Sebert and Kesha's representatives at Vector Management for defamation.
What is the role of injunction in this?
Kesha was denied an injunction this Friday by New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich. that would have let Kesha record new music for labels that aren't Kemosabe while the details of both lawsuits were being hashed out. The decision came after no evidence was found to support her assertion .
