Taylor Swift is talking about it, Lady Gaga is talking about
it, and #FreeKesha has captured headlines, but the legal battle between Kesha
and her record producer Dr. Luke is far more complex than a hashtag.
In short, Kesha filed a civil suit in 2014 that alleges Dr.
Luke drugged, emotionally abused and sexually assaulted her during her tenure
with Kemosabe Records, the label owned by the producer. Her legal team was
seeking to break her contract with Kemosabe Records and its parent company,
Sony Music Entertainment, so she could continue her career outside Dr. Luke's
influence. On February 19, the New York Supreme Court denied a preliminary
injunction related to the case, sending the singer into tears and her
supporters into a flurry of anger and activism on her behalf.
If this development sounds like the latest in an endlessly
intricate series of events, it's because it is. To begin at the beginning will
require walking back through years of accusations and hardships, both personal
and professional.
The Ri$e of Ke$ha (with a $)
Most people probably heard Kesha, now 28, before they even
heard of her. Though she had been working with Kemosabe Records and Dr. Luke
since 2005, she made her uncredited radio pop debut singing backup for rapper
Flo Rida's "Right Round" in 2009.
Later that year, Kesha blew up the scene with "Tik
Tok," a party-hard earworm that basically defined summer 2010. Fans were
captivated by her glittery, grungy persona and the dollar sign flourish in her
name sent people a-Googling over the pronunciation. Her first record,
"Animal," and other hits soon followed. By the time she released her
second album, "Warrior," in 2012, her pouty freckled face and raw
sound were instantly recognizable.
Behind the scenes, she was still working with Dr. Luke. The
co-workers maintained a public friendship, too, exchanging conversations and
pictures over social media and appearing at functions together.
Who is Dr. Luke?
Lukasz Gottwald is not actually a doctor, but he is a
ridiculously successful and well-known music producer who has produced huge
hits for the likes of Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson and Pink. Since his label is
owned by Sony Music Entertainment, that gives SME full rights to his services
as a producer. As one can guess, Dr. Luke is inextricable from Kesha's rise to
stardom; not only was he her record producer from her beginnings with Kemosabe
in 2005, but he also co-wrote and produced the 2009 Flo Rida single that served
as her first step to fame.
The 'Free Kesha' movement begins
While her 2012 album "Warrior" was far from a
flop, fans began to suspect the singer was being "controlled" by
Kemosabe Records and Dr. Luke. In 2013, a petition to release Kesha from her
recording contract was circulated, asking to remove her from Dr. Luke's
purview. In a 2013 Rolling Stone interview, Kesha said she didn't feel she had
creative control over her music.
"What's been put out as singles have just perpetuated a
particular image that may or may not be entirely accurate," she said.
"I'd like to show the world other sides of my personality."
In 2014, Kesha checked herself into rehab for an eating
disorder, saying she wanted to "learn to love myself again exactly as I
am." When she left two months later, she dropped the dollar sign in her
name. Later that year, she sued Dr. Luke for assault and sexual battery. The
struggle, hinted at in her interviews and public statements, was suddenly made
very real.
Accusations of abuse and countersuit
The scathing lawsuit filed by Kesha and her lawyers in
October 2014 alleged that, for the entirety of her professional career, she had
been controlled and abused by Dr. Luke. The suit alleged Dr. Luke persuaded her
to sign with his label, "showered her with promises of fame and fortune,"
and has been pulling her strings ever since.
"For the past 10 years, Dr. Luke has sexually,
physically, verbally and emotionally abused Ms. Sebert to the point where Ms.
Sebert nearly lost her life," the suit alleged. "Dr. Luke abused Ms.
Sebert in order to destroy her self-confidence, self-image, and self-worth so
that he could maintain complete control over her life and career." The
suit included claims of multiple instances where Dr. Luke had "forced
himself" on Kesha while she was "intoxicated and drugged," and
then threatened her into silence. (Kesha's full name is Kesha Rose Sebert.)
The suit also claimed her continued association with the
record producer would be "life threatening."
In response, Dr. Luke and his lawyers filed a lawsuit
against Kesha, claiming her allegations were defamation and an "attempt to
extort Gottwald into releasing Kesha from her exclusive recording agreement
with Dr. Luke."
And so, the lines were set: Kesha and her camp made it clear
they saw Dr. Luke as an abuser who was a threat to Kesha's career and life, and
Dr. Luke's camp believed her accusations to be an extreme form of contract
negotiation.
In fall 2015, Kesha and her attorney Mark Geragos petitioned
for a preliminary injunction in her case. Geragos stated the motion was to
hasten a decision in her case and allow her to record with other labels and
producers in the meantime. "Her brand value has fallen," Geragos
stated. "And unless the court issues this injunction, Kesha will suffer
irreparable harm, plummeting her career past the point of no return."
Court ruling and backlash
As Kesha's struggle became more and more public, her fans
and fellow artists continued to paint the narrative that Sony Music
Entertainment, Kemosabe Records and the law itself were perpetuating a system
that was holding hostage the very life and livelihood of a victim of a abuse.
The Free Kesha movement that started as a vague petition in 2013 became
#FreeKesha, a rallying cry that is, to the viewing public, as much about
victims' rights as it is about creative freedom and the legalities of binding
contracts.
