Dr. Luke, Kesha’s Mom Make Peace, Sort of

Dr. Luke’s defamation suit against Pebe Sebert, Kesha’s mom, has been dismissed in a Tennessee court.

You know things are ugly when someone’s mom gets sued for defamation of character, but that’s par for the course in Kesha’s ongoing legal battles with her former (though still technically under contract to work with him) producer.

In September, Dr. Luke filed a second lawsuit against Pebe Sebert, claiming she made libelous statements about him in relation to the alleged drugging and sexual assault attack against Kesha a few years ago. At the time, Dr. Luke’s attorney Christine Lepera told Billboard that Sebert “continued to make outrageous, false and defamatory statements against Dr. Luke in her widespread media campaign to damage him and smear his name… Pebe Sebert’s lawyers flat out refused to allow us to add those statements to the existing case or to toll the statute of limitations on them–so we’ve been compelled to file an additional action.”

The suit was filed in Middle Tennessee Federal Court and was similar to a suit filed in New York in October 2014 which was later thrown out.

Now it appears both sides want to move beyond the defamation case…and focus on the ongoing lawsuit in New York in which Dr. Luke (aka Lukasz Gottwald) maintains he’s never abused Kesha and that her lawsuits against him are a ploy to get her released from her recording contract.

Dr. Luke and Sebert released a joint statement in which both attempt to make nice, kinda.

“Dr. Luke vigorously disputes and denies that he ever raped Kesha Sebert and he is asserting claims of defamation in a New York court against Kesha Sebert for making statements to the contrary, which statements Dr. Luke adamantly maintains are false,” according to the statement.

It continues: “Pebe admits she has no firsthand knowledge of the events occurring on the night of the alleged rape. Pebe was not present that night. At that time, Pebe was in Nashville and Kesha was in Los Angeles. The dispute between Kesha and Dr. Luke about the events of that night is the subject of the New York case and will be decided in that case. Accordingly, all parties believe it is appropriate to dismiss this Tennessee case and focus their attention on the New York case.”

They won’t be sending each other holiday cards or invitations to parties anytime soon, but agreeing to let the New York case be the sole focus of their attention–and their legal teams– is probably the smart move.