Following Friday’s (Feb. 19) ruling where a judge denied an injunction that would have allowed Kesha to break her recording contract with Dr. Luke/Sony and record music outside his purview — followed by a weekend of people like Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and more making #FreeKesha a top trending topic on Twitter — lawyers for Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald released a lengthy statement to press Monday (Feb. 22).
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Kesha Denied Injunction Bid in Dispute With Dr. Luke
In it, lawyers Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP partner Christine Lepera seem to push back against the popular hashtag, although they never name it. They state, in part, “The New York County Supreme Court on Friday found that Kesha is already ‘free’ to record and release music without working with Dr. Luke as a producer if she doesn’t want to. Any claim that she isn’t ‘free’ is a myth.”
They also take issue with Kesha’s abuse allegations against Dr. Luke, noting they haven’t been substantiated. “Kesha never reported any purported abuse or rape to any law enforcement authority, or even to Sony Music, and further swore under oath in another matter, while accompanied by her team of lawyers, that it never occurred. The goal of Kesha’s counsel throughout has been to obtain a more lucrative contract through a shameless campaign of outrageous claims they will never stand behind in a court of law.”
Read the full statement below.
The New York County Supreme Court on Friday found that Kesha is already “free” to record and release music without working with Dr. Luke as a producer if she doesn’t want to. Any claim that she isn’t “free” is a myth. The sound decision Friday by the Court in denying Kesha’s motion for an injunction made it clear Kesha’s allegations of purported abuse were unconvincing and that she had no basis to void record contracts and copyrights. Dr. Luke and his companies invested in Kesha’s success through their contributions, Sony Music has already spent over $11 million promoting Kesha, and Sony Music and its label Kemosabe Records are committed to continuing to promote her work.
More significantly, the Court also noted multiple times that her vague abuse allegations were devoid of factual detail, and that there was no evidence, whether from doctors or anyone else, to support them.
Tellingly, Kesha never reported any purported abuse or rape to any law enforcement authority, or even to Sony Music, and further swore under oath in another matter, while accompanied by her team of lawyers, that it never occurred. The goal of Kesha’s counsel throughout has been to obtain a more lucrative contract through a shameless campaign of outrageous claims they will never stand behind in a court of law.
As Dr. Luke has said repeatedly, the allegations against him are outright lies that have been advanced to extort a contract renegotiation and money. Kesha and her counsel have cavalierly subjected Dr. Luke and his family to trial by Twitter, using a vicious smear campaign to ruin his reputation for financial gain while failing to support their claims. Kesha to date has never verified the allegations in this case -even when given the opportunity in her affidavit. Nor has she ever offered a credible explanation as to why she would have signed a second recording agreement, recorded two albums and an EP and signed a publishing deal with Dr. Luke after allegedly being sexually abused. It will further be shown that the incidents alleged never happened.
For more on Friday’s court case, read Billboard’s report here. Billboard reached out to Kesha’s lawyers for comment.