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Kesha says Dr. Luke also raped Katy Perry; he denies it

The years-long battle between Kesha and Dr. Luke is getting uglier – now Katy Perry is involved.
Court documents obtained by The Blast and Variety state Kesha sent a text to Lady Gaga containing that accusation.

We knew Kesha said he’d raped and abused her; we knew in early 2017 there was some conversation involving Kesha, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. But the details are just coming to light now.

Two of three claims made in the documents were already known: that Lukas Gottwald gave Kesha Sebert drugs against her stated wishes and that he raped her, all while she was under contract to work with and record with his label, Kemosabe, a Sony imprint.

This new detail about Katy Perry, however, is pretty straightforward: “On February 26, 2016, [Kesha] sent a text message to Stefani Germanotta p/k/a Lady Gaga which repeated [Kesha’s] false claim that [Luke] had raped her. [Kesha] also falsely asserted that [Luke] had also raped Kathryn Hudson p/k/a Katy Perry,” and “Following this text message conversation, and with [Kesha’s] encouragement, [Gaga] spread negative messages about [Luke] in the press and on social media.”

Back in early 2017, it was reported that E! obtained documents for a status hearing in the ongoing court case – remember, Kesha wants out of her contract and Sony/Kemosabe/Dr. Luke are countersuing to say she’s defaming him – saying only that the court in Manhattan had “received and sealed a text message sent from Kesha to Lady Gaga in April 2016, which Dr. Luke is able to share with Mother Monster as well as Katy Perry.”

At that time, the messages were sealed and to remain confidential. Apparently they’re confidential no longer.

In a statement provided after the documents were released June 13, Dr. Luke’s attorneys denounce and deny the accusation.

“Kesha and her legal team are fully aware that Ms. Perry has unequivocally confirmed that she was not raped by Dr. Luke. Kesha and her attorneys should be ashamed of themselves for not publicly acknowledging this and apologizing. Instead, they continue to publicize this and other falsehoods. In fact, Kesha’s false accusation involving Ms. Perry came to public light only because Kesha’s attorneys filed the accusation publicly.”

Of course there’s a rebuttal.

Kesha’s team says that it was Dr. Luke’s camp who leaked the court documents, not hers; her attorneys say his “nearly $50 million defamation case against Kesha is meritless,” AND that, despite using her album Rainbow as an argument that she’s not being discouraged or held back from making new music with the company’s support, Kesha hasn’t been paid for her work.

Even Lady Gaga’s weighing in – her team sent a statement to USAToday saying she’s an “ancillary witness” and that Dr. Luke’s people are “attempting to manipulate the truth and draw press attention to their case by exaggerating Lady Gaga’s role and falsely accusing her of dodging responsible requests.”

Perry, by the way, reportedly has been deposed for this lawsuit but the details of her testimony have not been revealed (yet). She’s never publicly accused Dr. Luke of raping her, but she did stop working with him several years ago. He’s claimed to have lost out on $10 million or more that he would’ve made if their collaboration had continued.

In a separate statement to The Blast, a spokesperson for Dr. Luke says Kesha should be ashamed of herself for the suggestion.

“Katy Perry herself confirmed that Dr. Luke did not rape her. Kesha’s accusation to the contrary – just like her other outrageous lies about Dr. Luke – is baseless and irresponsible, and it is disrespectful to both Katy Perry and Dr. Luke.”

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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