Kesha’s Mom Drops Lawsuit Against Dr. Luke
Pebe Sebert has dropped her countersuit against Dr. Luke, but it’s incredibly unlikely her daughter will do the same.
In a statement provided to Entertainment Weekly last week and republished, at least in part, on other websites, Kesha’s mom decided to end her battle against the record producer, saying she “has decided to move on and find peace and forgiveness in her heart rather than dwelling in the cancerous part of an ongoing lawsuit with no end in sight.”
A recap of the legal battles up to this point:
Kesha’s suing Dr. Luke (real name Lukasz Gottwald), claiming he repeatedly assaulted her for many years. He’s countersuing Kesha and her mom (Pebe Sebert) for defamation and arguing he’s only being sued because Kesha wants out of her decade-old (and never renegotiated) contract with his label, Kemosabe Records, an imprint of Sony Music. Mrs. Sebert countersued, citing “emotional distress,” according to Pitchfork and other websites. In February, a judge in New York, where Dr. Luke’s cases are being tried (instead of California, where Kesha filed her lawsuit), dismissed his case against Kesha’s mother. He has not made any motions toward dropping any of his lawsuits, either against Kesha or her mother.
In a statement provided to Entertainment Weekly, one of Dr. Luke’s attorneys, Christine Lepare, said “Pebe Sebert’s voluntary withdrawal of all her claims against Dr. Luke is her acknowledgment that her claims are meritless. Dr. Luke’s defamation and other claims continue against Pebe and Kesha Sebert.”
The same judge who denied Kesha’s request for an injunction in her case against Dr. Luke, saying Kesha was free to record with another producer fully away from Dr. Luke’s oversight and later throwing out many of Kesha’s claims by saying that “Every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime,” is the one who dismissed his suit against Mrs. Sebert, by the way.
And for what it’s worth, maybe Judge Shirley Kornreich had a point in saying that Kesha has been free all along to work with another producer on new music, despite Kesha’s assertions that no work she might create while still locked into her contract with Kemosabe and Sony would have any support from the label. On Friday, Kesha and Zedd released a new track, “True Colors,” her first new material in several years.
Forever grateful @Zedd and all YOU 4 making #truecolors possible Hope to be able to record my album soon 🙏 pic.twitter.com/512YEWI7jB
— kesha (@KeshaRose) April 30, 2016
this is more than a song. it's a declaration of my truth #truecolors
✌❤✌ https://t.co/NZ7pH87Hsc— kesha (@KeshaRose) April 28, 2016
And because apparently he couldn’t help himself, Dr. Luke felt the need to comment on Kesha’s new song.
Thanks for the clarification @Zedd …
— Dr. Luke Doctor Luke (@TheDoctorLuke) April 27, 2016
Stay classy, Doc.
