Music News

BREAKING: Sony May Be Dropping Dr. Luke. Or Not.

Depending on your media outlet of choice, Sony is either in the process of Dr. Luke or considering no such thing.

There’s been plenty of bad publicity surrounding the producer in recent weeks, as he’s currently engaged in a series of legal battles with Kesha (and, in one suit, her mother) over allegations he repeatedly drugged and sexually assaulted her when she first signed with him and his label, Kemosabe, more than a decade ago.

A handful of websites are reporting that Sony wants to cut their losses and give Dr. Luke the boot.  At 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, The Wrap wrote an “exclusive” piece, quoting “knowledgeable individuals,” stating Sony was ready to sever its relationship with Lukasz Gottwald a full year before his contract expired, given the PR headache these lawsuits have created. Kesha has been getting serious high-profile support from Lady Gaga, Adele, Kelly Clarkson and others in the past few weeks since a New York State Supreme Court judge denied her request for a legal permission slip, of sorts, to record with another studio until the larger lawsuit is settled.  In the meantime, Sony has said they’re not legally able to release Kesha from her contract, because it’s owned by other, separate entities, namely Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe label.

In that same article, a Sony Music spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, while a legal representative for Dr. Luke told The Wrap their “exclusive” article was false.

To that end, other outlets, including Billboard, are frantically reporting now that the previous stories are without any truth.

This is not true,” Luke’s attorney told Billboard in an article posted later Wednesday. “Luke has an excellent relationship with Sony. His representatives are in regular contact with executives at the highest levels at Sony and this has never come up.”

Sony continues to decline to comment at this time.

 

Amber Healy

I write about music policy and lawsuits because they're endlessly fascinating.

Amber Healy has 523 posts and counting. See all posts by Amber Healy

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