Kesha And Dr. Luke Have Settled Their Nearly Decade-Long Lawsuit The Month Before It Was Set To Go To Trial
Kesha and Dr. Luke have been battling it out in the courts for years. In 2014, Kesha publicly accused the music producer of drugging and raping her and filed a civil suit against him. Dr. Luke clapped back with his own lawsuit, accusing Kesha of fabricating allegations against him to get out of her recording contract. He was seeking over $50 million in damages. Luke’s defamation case was finally set to go to trial next month, but today, we learned that it’s over before it even began.
Pop Crush reports that Dr. Luke dropped his defamation lawsuit against Kesha, and both parties released a joint statement. 36-year-old Kesha writes, “Only God knows what happened that night,” and “As I have always said, I cannot recount everything that happened.” Well, if she was roofied, of course, she doesn’t remember what happened. 49-year-old Dr. Luke writes that he appreciates Kesha “acknowledging that she cannot recount what happened” and once again denies drugging or assaulting her.
Here’s the joint-but-separate statement:
Kesha and Dr. Luke have agreed to a resolution of the lawsuit and have agreed to issue and post a joint statement regarding that resolution. In resolution of that lawsuit, Kesha and Dr. Luke each state the following.
Settlement Statements:
“Only God knows what happened that night. As I have always said, I cannot recount everything that happened,” wrote Kesha. “I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved.” – Kesha
“While I appreciate Kesha again acknowledging that she cannot recount what happened that night in 2005, I am absolutely certain that nothing happened. I never drugged or assaulted her and would never do that to anyone. For the sake of my family, I have vigorously fought to clear my name for nearly 10 years. It is time for me to put this difficult matter behind me and move on with my life. I wish Kesha well.” – Dr. Luke
They both shared the statement on their social media and disabled the comments:
The night in question was October 5, 2005. Kesha alleged that the month after she signed an exclusive six-album record deal with Dr. Luke, the pair went to Nicky Hilton’s birthday party at Paris Hilton’s Hollywood Hills mansion. Kesha knew Paris from filming The Simple Life. In the third season, Paris and Nicole Richie visited Tennessee and auditioned men to date Kesha’s mom, Pebe Sebert. At the after-party, Kesha says Dr. Luke gave her something he called “sober pills.” She alleges the pills were actually the date rape drug GHB and that Dr. Luke took her back to his hotel room and raped her. She was 18; he was 32.
In 2016, Kesha’s momma Pebe did an interview with Billboard. She said Dr. Luke and Kesha’s relationship was toxic and abusive from the get. She describes her daughter as “a prisoner”:
“It was like someone who beats you every day and hangs you from a chain and then comes in and gives you a piece of bread. Luke would say, ‘You look nice today,’ ” says Pebe, “and send her into hysterics of happiness because she was programmed to expect nothing but abuse.”
Pebe says that the morning after the party, she couldn’t get ahold of her daughter on the phone. Finally, by mid-afternoon on October 6, Kesha returned her call. She told Pebe she’d woken up naked in what she believed was Dr. Luke’s hotel room:
“Mom, I don’t know where I am. I think we had sex. I’m sore and sick. I don’t know where my clothes are. I think I need to go to the hospital,” she said.
In a 2015 affidavit, Kesha claims she only had a few drinks that night, yet she still blacked out. But, in the days after the alleged incident, she told her mom she didn’t want to go to the police:
“Looking back, I don’t know why we didn’t go to the police. Kesha told me not to do anything. She said, ‘Mom, I just want to sing. I don’t want to be a rape-case victim. I just want to get my music out.’ I didn’t follow my instincts.”
After a few years of highs and lows with Dr. Luke, including a two-year estrangement, Kesha and Dr. Luke flew to New York together to shop for a record deal. This would have been late 2008 or early 2009. In her 2014 lawsuit, Kesha says Luke forced her to snort “an illicit drug” before their flight back to L.A. She says she began drinking on the plane and became intoxicated. Then, Dr. Luke (allegedly) began making sexual advances on her. Pebe told Billboard:
“I do remember her calling me from the plane telling me that she was so drunk, and [how] Dr. Luke came over and started making out with her and was all over her,” says Pebe. “She told me she felt terrible and was trying to get away from him and then vomited.”
Pebe said that when Kesha hit it big in 2010 with her debut single, “Tik Tok,” Dr. Luke’s focus on her intensified. Pebe says this is when Luke “started getting really hateful.” She alleges Luke saw her daughter as “a cash cow” and was constantly manipulating her and ridiculing her body. Kesha says Luke encouraged her not to eat for days at a time, and she struggled with suicidal thoughts and bulimia. Pebe says he also constantly compared Kesha to Katy Perry. Pebe says Katy and Kesha were actually once close friends “before they both got famous.” In 2018, Lady Gaga forked over evidence to help Kesha with her legal battle. This evidence included texts where Gaga and Kesha allege Katy was also raped by Dr. Luke (she denies it), but she won’t admit it cuz she’s “mean” and “afraid to lose everything.”
There’s also that whole thing where Kesha couldn’t release new music for yeeears after her 2012 album, Warrior, cuz Dr. Luke wouldn’t let her out of her contract. Technically, Kesha could work with other producers, but Dr. Luke had to approve them. Momma Pebe says he had “final say over everything.” Woooof. Her latest album, Gag Order, came out just last month. It was released by RCA Records and Kemosabe Records (Dr. Luke’s former label). This is, thankfully, Kesha’s final album with Kemosabe. Even though Dr. Luke isn’t the head of that label anymore, he’ll still profit from the album. This is ironic, considering many songs are about Kesha overcoming trauma and depression she attributes to Dr. Luke’s actions.
Earlier this month, Kesha scored an important pre-trial victory. New York’s Court of Appeals decided that Dr. Luke is a public figure. That means, if the defamation case had gone to trial, he’d have had to prove that Kesha acted with “actual malice” when she accused him of rape in 2014. Before that, he’d been considered a private citizen, and if he’d remained one, he would’ve only had to prove that Kesha acted with “negligence” (much easier to prove). Jezebel reported that the appeals court promoted Dr. Luke to “public figure” because he bragged about what a huge, important music producer he was in his complaint. HAAAAA.
So, why did they settle? Did that “private citizen” loss spook Dr. Luke? Did neither party wants to suffer through a trial? The settlement terms have not been made public, so we may never know. Damn, Kesha deserves a nice big hug today (Jerry Seinfeld has left the chat).
Pics: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Cover Images & ACE/INFphoto.com