In January of this year, Kesha checked into a rehab/mental health facility because she was abusing substances and she was in the throes of an eating disorder. It sounded like she was genuinely in a really bad place, and to her credit, she sought treatment of her own accord, because she realized she needed help (as opposed to those people who hit rock bottom by hurting other people). Kesha stayed undercover for a while, getting help, and she came out a few months later. She seemed a lot healthier and happier. In the midst of her treatment, though, many in Kesha’s team (including her mom) thought Kesha’s producer Dr. Luke was mainly to blame for her situation. Dr. Luke allegedly fat-shamed her, criticized her incessantly and triggered her eating disorder. Now Kesha has filed a lawsuit against Dr. Luke and OMG, the whole situation was really, really bad.
Kesha was sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused for 10 years by her producer, Dr. Luke, to the point where she nearly died. According to a new lawsuit — obtained by TMZ — Kesha claims Dr. Luke was abusive towards her almost from the get-go — when she signed on with him at 18 — and made repeated sexual advances toward her. She claims he would force her to use drugs and alcohol to remove her defenses.
In one instance, Kesha claims he forced her to snort something before getting on a plane … and during the trip he forced himself on her while she was drugged. On another occasion, Kesha claims after forcing her to drink with him, Dr. Luke gave her what he called “sober pills.” Kesha claims she woke up the following afternoon, naked in Dr. Luke’s bed, sore, sick … and with no memory of how she got there.
Kesha says the alleged abuse led to her eating disorder — a story TMZ broke earlier this year. She claims Dr. Luke said, among other things, “You are not that pretty, you are not that talented, you are just lucky to have me.” As we reported, she claims he called her “a fat f***ing refrigerator.”
Kesha also says there was physical abuse … once she says he attacked her at his Malibu house where he was “violently thrashing his arms at her.” She says she escaped and ran barefoot down PCH and hid in the mountains.
Kesha is asking a judge to let her out of her contract with Luke. Kesha’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, tells TMZ … “This lawsuit is a wholehearted effort by Kesha to regain control of her music career and her personal freedom after suffering for ten years as a victim of mental manipulation, emotional abuse and an instance of sexual assault at the hands of Dr. Luke.”
Geragos adds, “The facts presented in our lawsuit paint a picture of a man who is controlling and willing to commit horrible acts of abuse in an attempt to intimidate an impressionable, talented, young female artist into submission for his personal gain. Kesha is focused on moving her life and her career beyond this terrible time.”
We called Dr. Luke’s rep. So far, no word back.
HOLY CRAP. I don’t understand how “triggering an eating disorder” got the headline when it sounds like Dr. Luke was a predator (allegedly) who emotionally and sexually abused Kesha. This is just so awful. Poor Kesha. And yes, obviously, she should be let out of her contract with him. The lawsuit is a civil/business action, but surely there’s enough in here for a criminal complaint as well? And if Dr. Luke is passing out roofies, maybe there’s a drug case in here too. This guy sounds like scum. Shortly after Kesha filed her suit, Dr. Luke countersued, claiming Kesha made the whole thing up:
Kesha is a liar who is making up stories just so she can get out of her legally binding contract with Dr. Luke … and she tried extorting him to boot … this according to a new lawsuit. Luke filed suit hours after Kesha filed her own lawsuit … accusing him of sexual and physical assault over a period of years.
But in Luke’s lawsuit … he says the pack of lies is being engineered by Kesha’s mother, Pebe and Kesha’s new management firm. Luke claims Kesha tried to extort him by threatening to spread lies about him to a blogger who started a “Free Kesha” website unless he released her from her recording contract. And Luke says in his lawsuit he’s had a copy of a draft of Kesha’s new abuse lawsuit for months, and she was threatening to file it if he didn’t release her. In other words, he’s alleging more extortion.
Luke’s lawyer, Christine Lepera, tells TMZ, Kesha’s lawsuit about abuse is part of “a campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements,” calling the allegations scurrilous. Lepera says Kesha and her mom have already admitted the statements are false.
Er… here’s what I don’t get: if Kesha is so difficult and such an extortionist, why not just let her out of her contract? Why fight to hang on to her? Plus, I don’t even consider this “extortion.” If Kesha’s claims are even partially true, she has every right to go public and to sue him. And if she waited to file the suit, what does that prove? Nothing, really. It’s also possible that the crux of both lawsuits are true: Kesha could be the victim of Dr. Luke’s abuse AND she could be trying to extort him.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Anyone who doesn’t actually have a medical license & refers to themselves as “Doctor”, I tend to automatically side-eye. It also confirms my belief that the movie/music industry is a perfect playground for predators to find plenty of prey that will keep their mouth shut so they can have a taste of fame.
Yup THIS
Doctor of Business, Economics, etc., … fine to use it in that context
I’m glad someone posted this.
“Dr” and “Doctor” can’t only be used in regards to medicine/medical.
Maybe Luke is a fan of a favorite Time Lord and its his way to pay homage.
there is an interesting article here on the New Yorker all about him and why he became Dr Luke and a lot of background to his business and the music business generally. On the music business generally, it is depressing, cos this guy is one of a hand full of people who is responsible for our current pop scene.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/10/14/the-doctor-is-in
There’s also an interesting article from 2011 from pagesix that says this, ‘An industry source said, “It’s a red flag if a producer goes completely silent before the Grammys.” Another associate of Dr. Luke told us he may be a musical genius, but his abrasive style can be hard to swallow: “He checks all of his artists. He just curses them out. He thinks he owns them because he made them.”’ It’s titled “Katy and hit-maker in big rift” for anyone who wants to look it up.
At what point do we start throwing the blame on the parents of these artists who willingly hand their children over to this industry?
To put it another way, why is Kesha’s mother a plaintiff and not a co-defendant?
I’m with you on this topic. Luke is to blame for his vile role, but where is the hate for the mother who allowed this and before anybody asks or says it, how could she not know? She may not have know about specific details, but she knew something was going on.
I’ll go a step further and say at any point Kesha could have quit. She sold her soul to the devil for fame. I am not victim-blaming or shaming. The man should do serious time for drugging a minor, rape, contributing to the deliquency of a child, and more. But, Kesha stayed in that environment. She went to him time and again. For the life of me, how can fame and fortune be so important to some girls that they’re willing to sacrifice their pride, integrity, and even physical safety? I can’t understand why they do it.
eh, i think you are victim blaming. She was (and in fact still IS) contractually obligated to this guy. This all started because she hit the bottom and asked him to let her leave.
Like it or not, 18 year olds in the US are not fully functioning adults. Maybe I’m making a more general statement about child stars. At this point, why aren’t we more critical of any parent who sends their naive child into the entertainment industry, considering how 75% of them turn out? Britney, Amanda Bynes, the entire cast of Different Strokes…
Kesha wanted to be a singer. Luke was an up and coming producer when he signed her. It was unknown at that time he was a bad person. It’s not fair to blame parents if their 18 year old wants to become an entertainer. They had no way of knowing what she was getting into. Women unknowingly enter abusive relationships all the time and struggle to get out of them. And not every entertainer has these awful experiences. Women encounter creeps and abusers in many industries.
What I find fascinating is that Kesha is filing this suit at the top of her career – ‘Tinder’ was huge, for example. Usually this type of suit comes from artists who are past their prime and need a few extra bucks. Kesha is taking a huge risk here, jettisoning the (nasty) man who made her career so far. She apparently thinks its worth it for purposes of her own mental health.
When you are rehabbing, for drugs, alcohol, eating disorder, etc – honesty is critical to the healing process. I believe she is sincere in what she says.
I believe her too.
Except she isn’t at the top of her career – the singles from her second album underperformed, as did the album – whilst Tinder was nominally a Pitbull track, for which she gets merely a “featuring” credit.
I’m a teensy bit sceptical, I’m afraid – Kesha’s lawsuit may speak 100% truth, but it seems awfully coincidental that she’s alleging abuse at exactly the moment she wants out of her contract. Let the scales of justice weigh the evidence before we crucify the guy.
It doesn’t matter that Timber was on pitbull’s album. It was still her track too. Fans thought she would release new music to capitalize on all the exposure the massive worldwide success of the song gave her. The abuse was so bad she decided to basically put her career on hold to fight to break this contract rather than put out new music to take advantage of Timber’s success. You know things are bad when someone’s so desperate they’re willing to lose everything to escape.
Of course she would want out of her contract with Dr Luke – if her allegations are even half true, would you particularly want to continue working with someone who has treated you horribly for a year?
And Kesha had a huge hit with Timber, but I would imagine her rehab stint and reluctance to work with Dr Luke made it difficult to strike while the iron was hot.
She wants out of her contract BECAUSE of the ongoing manipulation and abuse, it’s been a fact throughout her career (that she has expressed over and over ) she doesn’t have a lot of creative control. One example, She didn’t want to release Die Young. Dr. Luke and her team forced her. Also you have to remember that shes been under his control since she was 18, he’s molded and shaped her party girl image, and powerful intelligent predators think ahead. If she has this party girl promiscuous image then if she ever actually speaks out against any sort of abuse little seeds of doubt are already planted. Accusing him of such things benefits her in no way, there are other ways of getting out of a 10 year contract.
On GMA this morning, they had a different spin. According to their report, her doctors told her that she needs stop all contact with Dr. Luke or she will backslide in her recovery efforts. So the attempt to get out of her contract is less about business and more about her recovery.
I agree, Bridget and Lanster. I don’t think the claims of abuse and wanting to get out of her contract weaken her claims at all. The timing makes sense.
Also, this isn’t the first time we are hearing about Dr. Luke being overly harsh with his artists.
She is not “at the top of her career”. Her last album was not a big thing. Let’s be realistic here. She past her prime. However I agree she takes big risk with this lawsuit. She is still solid B-lister. And now let’s get to the point. It’s “she said – he said” situation. Is he a predator and an asshole? Probably yes. Is she that innocent and 100% victim in this case? Probably not.
Not really. She just had her 3rd #1 and one of her biggest hits. It was the perfect chance to restart her career. Many singers have come back from underperforming eras. She’s not at all past her prime. This lawsuit is putting her career at risk and she knows it. She released a snippet of a song with lines “Tonight, I’m not afraid to die, Not afraid to cry, I’ll learn to fight.” This snippet came out in late 2013. Fans aware of her troubles with Luke knew it was aimed at him and her determination to take him on and risk losing her career in the process.
Kelly Clarkson, P!nk, Rihanna and others have come back from major flops and went on to huge success. A flop isn’t a death sentence. Timber was Kesha’s ticket back to the big time. It’s telling of how bad thing were for her that she let that opportunity slip away.
It doesnt matter if you consider her at the height of her career or not. The fact is that this won’t help her career no matter. He is an incredibly powerful man in the music industry so she is jeopardising whatever is left of her career when suing him.
It has to be really bad for her to do this. I hope she finds peace and happiness.
@Emma, might sound awful but even if I don’t like Rihanna, those three are more talented or charismatic than Kesha.
Leah, I agree 100%. She is taking a huge risk by doing this and that does say something.
MeloMelo,
You’re joking, right? Kesha writes her whole albums. Sure she has to do it under the heavy hand of Dr. Luke but she’s still doing it. Rihanna has all her songs handed to her. Kelly Clarkson often has songs written for her as well. Listen to a song like Past Lives. Kesha wrote all those lyrics and that beautiful acoustic guitar accompaniment. Rihanna couldn’t something as beautiful as Past Lives. Kelly is definitely better vocally than Kesha. But Kesha is better than Rihanna. Kesha also puts far more energy into her stage performances than Rihanna does. Kelly, Rihanna and Kesha are also about equal when it comes to success with critics based on their Metacritic scores. Rihanna has a career score of 67 while both Kesha and Kelly have career scores of 66.
I believe you mean TIMBER….. lol Not Tinder…
I also believe her. She’s risking a lot, both career-wise and emotionally, as society can be pretty cruel to people who report their abuse, especially if the person isn’t someone who’s cherished, respected, and pedestaled to begin with. A lot of people have a deep distaste for Ke$ha and will probably say the predictable, nasty stuff in response to her allegations. So while there’s always a possibility that someone is lying, I’m more inclined to believe her. Why would she want to subject herself to all this potential embarrassment, lack of privacy, hate, harassment, and career damage if there was no abuse? How would it be worth it? And why does she so desperately not want to be under contract with this particular person for a year?
I suspect that her coming forward now does have something to do with her recovery, and even if there is some extortion involved with her or her family holding the abuse over this guy’s head, if he actually did it, he brought it on himself.
What a nightmare. I have a newfound respect for her coming forward because the entertainment field protects sexual predators so unfortunately she’s probably more likely to face reprisals for telling the truth than any profit.
THIS. This lawsuit has a huge possibility of “blackballing” her from the industry. (A GREAT example, Sparkle when she was at the height of her career and her 14 yr old cousin filed suit against R Kelly (the young girl who got pissed on) and she could never work in the industry again). Think of how many sexual predators Hollywood breeds, it creates a haven for them where they can control young, beautiful creatures desperate to make ends meet/make it. “I’ll promise you an audition if you give me two hours in my suite, etc.”
Not only do I believe every word, I bet many of the young starlets that are big stars have had to do some very unsavory things to get there. Please remember Cory Haim and Cory Feldman, ya’ll.
Also, just read Imperial Bedrooms so I’m feeling influenced anyway 😉
So true, and there is GaGa who wrote that song swine about all the pigs she had to crawl through to make it to the top, it’s definitely part of that world, and the more stars that come forward like Kesha the better. I applaud her.
I don’t understand how its extortion to say to someone, I have a case against you, its your call whether I take it public or we settle up privately between ourselves. That’s just pragmatism, not extortion – if the other person doesn’t want to keep it private, then you go to court.
That’s his version because I’m sure on some level he believes, “How DARE she! I made her & she never said no, she must have wanted it”
It’s extortion IF the allegations are not true. (Let me out or I will lie and ruin your reputation).
So of course that ‘s his version.
Get him Ke$ha!!!
Hopefully this will encourage other artists to speak out.
yes. she’s not the only one.
Poor woman. I hope she wins and criminal charges are filed against him. God, these creeps who prey on vulnerable young women just trying to make it with their talent make me so sick. I’m proud of her for finally standing up to him. I hope it helps her heal.
This is par for the course in Hollyweird. If you want fame or succes, you pay up. I’m so glad that she’s fighting this and shedding a light on this disgusting industry.
I believe Kesha. If she’s extorting him, so what!?! Doesn’t change the fact that he abused her.
She wasn’t abusing substances. She said herself she was in rehab solely for an eating disorder and that despite her persona she’s “incredibly responsible”. A rumor did go around she was treated for alcohol abuse but her mother believed Luke planted that fake story to take the heat off himself. That’s why her mom blasted Luke in the media at the time.
The alcohol story came from Radar Online which is notorious for making stories up. It’s possible they made it up on their own and no one planted it. But it’s understandable Kesha’s angry and upset mom would jump to that conclusion. The substance abuse thing has been discredited anyway. Kesha was seen drinking at a bar a month after leaving rehab. I remember someone on a forum tried to make a big deal about it. Ooh, she’s drinking and she just got out of rehab. Everyone pretty much responded she was in for anorexia and bulimia so who cares if she’s having a drink.
She should also take out a lawsuit on her hairdresser for the horrible locks-job.
Geragos is a bloodsucking pig. I wish her luck with everything, but get a different lawyer.
He’s an excellent lawyer. She probably couldn’t get much better.
I agree when I saw who her lawyer was it made me question the whole story. I also question how this case can go anywhere if it’s he said, she said. Why did she never seek help or report any of this alleged abuse when it happened? How can she prove it took place? She won’t have much to protect her legally if this is all resulting from her therapy sessions and crap advice from that parasite Geragos.
Asking why she didn’t report it when it happened is victim-blaming.
poor kesha. I believe her. so horrible……she has had a rough life.
Or she might feel some obligation to him which is why she tried to extort him in the first place. No one wants a story like this to come out. All of your vulnerability laid bare for the public? Perhaps she thought she could do this quietly, he refused to let her go, so she had no choice but to go ahead with it.
It’s not even extortion. It’s a standard legal practice. Let me out of my contract or I’ll have to file a lawsuit to get out of my contract isn’t extortion. He was given an opportunity to negotiate and avoid all this but he’s so determined to control her it went this far.
There have been rumblings about something icky going on with Kesha for a while, and her family openly blamed Dr Luke for her rehab trip. I wouldn’t be shocked if this was true.
Why not let her out of her contact because she is difficult, extortionist, etc.? Because MONEY!
Guys like him think that girls like Kesha would never have made it without him. For the initial investment, you lock them down in a contract with sunset clause and with the rare ones that do make it, this type of contract is a gold mine for the producer/manager, but oppressive for the artist.
One thing I learned in music business is that your contract is as good as the lawyer you hire to enforce or break it.
She must have wanted fame something fierce to put up with that for 10 years.
If you read the lawsuit it claims he was threatening to harm her and her family. She has a mom with health problems and a little brother who’s now 15 to think about. If this goes to trial, I’m sure we’ll get more information on the nature of those alleged threats.
Please don’t say that. She was 18 years old. Men like this start slowly, gain your confidence, and then start to manipulate you into thinking that you can’t make it without them. She was abused on every level, and confused and scared. I know it’s hard to understand, but it probably wasn’t about fame at all.
That’s what I was thinking, GNAT. It sounds like an unfortunately common story of abuse, control, etc.
Just looking this guy up, the majority of people he worked with were young female performers. I don’t know if that’s coincidence or a pattern, but if her allegations are true, chances are she isn’t the only one he’s done this to.
Very true, GNAT. This might have occurred in the music industry, but it still seems to follow the pattern of your typical abusive person.
Also, I remember when “Right Round” by Flo Rida came out. I was like “WHO is singing that hook and WHY aren’t they given a credit/featuring, etc.?” Now we know it is because Dr. Luke put Kesha in there for nearly nothing with the enticement of getting to work on an album of her own. That is why she put the $ in Ke$sha, because she was the lead hook on a #1 single that sold millions, but got paid very little for it.
The crappiests part of this is that airing this stuff might cost Kesha her career but not him…in fact people are gonna Continue linight up to work with someone that AT BEST is a mysoginistic jerk
It’s such bs how the woman always get the turd’ oeuvres and they guy goes on to take advantage of other young girls. I hope she wins.
You’re right. This won’t end his career. It should but it won’t. If she wins, which I think she will, she’ll bounce back too but I don’t think she’ll ever be as big. But I don’t think she cares at this point. I think she just wants to get her life back. I can see her going alternative and making music that makes her happy and being fine with that.
KRI Im gonna BEAT YOUR Ass Behind Turd’ouvers but Ima Use it!
WO … this is probably accurate judging from Fists Brown and R. kelly… i hope she bounces back in whatdver capacity and market she prefers… I for one think we should support her career and frankness off General Principle
If it’s true, he most probably did the same thing to others. Let’s hope that said other will come forward. And that among those one will have a case admissible in a criminal court.
QQ, good points, you are probably right.
Gross, I hope Ke$ha eats this dude alive.
God bless Kesha. I hope she gets out of her contract, gets to live a happy, peaceful life and that this guy is forever blackballed in the industry.
Besides Pink, she is my favorite pop star. I have always loved her attitude and I really feel for her here. I believe her.
And for those who say she’s not at the top of her career, just wait. I really think she will be back. The article I read yesterday made reference to a comment from her or maybe it was a direct quote from her but she basically said that she was forced into making music that maybe didn’t reflect who she really was and maybe music that she really didn’t want to make. That leads me to believe that if she’s left to her own devices, she may turn a corner and create a whole new sound for herself. Not unlike Pink who after her first album got a little creative freedom from Babyface and she kind of went for a bit of a different sound and then when that was successful she had complete freedom and now does what she wants music-wise. I think that was a huge step for her and has made her who she is today. I kind of hope that Kesha does the same thing. Stays true to herself and the music that she wants to perform.
GO KESHA!
I believe her. Say what you will, but Kesha is talented (even though I don’t like most of her music), and quite intelligent. Something about Dr. Luke, including his name, has always creeped me out, so my gut feelings may have been correct in this case!
I’ve always kinda liked her. I even like a few of her songs, and if you’ve ever heard her deconstructed stuff it’s clear that she is exceptionally talented. Her video singing Black Roses with her friends is awesome. But I digress. Point is, she started out with a persona that was beyond caring what people thought and ended up in rehab with an eating disorder. That is horsesh!t. Someone messed with this poor kid’s head.
His career wont suffer any real damage, just like Woody’s and Polanski’s and any other similar man’s didn’t. Kesha’s career will definitely be damaged, possible ended because there are so many people involved in skeevy sh*t who wont work with her anymore. And the media is in it too, trying it’s best to blame the victims. All the big names with the most power. USA entertainment industry is built as a place for rich and powerful men to exploit women. That’s what it’s been about since the very beginning.
I sometimes wonder if there are any women in the pop industry/Hollywood who didn’t have to sleep with someone to get to the top. Other than extremely well connected ones like Gwyneth, that is. I honestly don’t think so. It’s just taken as granted that women have to spread their legs to get anywhere in these industries. Nobody questions it, not even the women there.
I like Kesha and I hope the best for her but I can’t feel shocked or angry. This is how it is and will probably always be. There is just no change coming from any direction. The worst thing is that we women accept it too, support these scumbags, idolize the female artists as “empowered women” although they are mostly nothing more than puppets in strings for these powerful men. In some ways it seems like things have gotten just worse, women’s sexual exploitation has gotten so open and extreme in media and if you criticize it you’re a prude.
Really? I don’t see how anyone could call you a prude for calling out abuse. You’re not criticizing consenting adults for showing skin or being sexual; you’re criticizing people in positions of power who sexually and otherwise abuse those underneath them. I wouldn’t go as far as to assume that most famous women were made to have sex with somebody for their careers, but I do definitely think that it happens, and that it’s not just women either.
I think it’s ridiculous to make such sweeping generalizations about women in Hollywood. Yes we live in a patriarchal society but we are very lucky to be women in this country where we are free to get an education, speak our minds and vote. Not every woman “spreads her legs” to get ahead, stop perpetuating that belief, we are not defined by our bodies nor who we sleep with. You want to wave a banner for women’s rights, well and good, but you don’t have to do it by trampling on the reputation of others.
I feel sorry for her.
This man sounds like a soulless , predatory , abusive pig.
All I can see is this poor girl fleeing his house to get away from him beating her and hiding in the bushes all night on PCH. That’s awful. No way she’s making this stuff up.
I believe her.
every comment i’ve ever made here re kesha has been what a vile sack of dog sh¡t dr luke is. while i’m no fan of her music, he is gross so good for her.
his formula for a successful pop song is “girl get wasted and loose, no worries for tomorrow” sickening bs. get high and lose control and there won’t be any consequences (for me, you, well let’s not worry about you since you’re just a piece of replaceable meat)-no surprise that’s his life philosophy. he truly disgusts me. he sucks as a producer AND a human.
Nail on the head!!!