Producer Dr. Luke has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Kesha’s mom for defamation, following his countersuit to pop-star Kesha’s claims of abuse.
According to Stereogum, in a recent update in the Kesha/Dr. Luke war, Dr. Luke has filed a defamation lawsuit against Kesha’s mom, Pepe Sebert, claiming that the sexual assault allegations were created to “smear” Dr. Luke’s reputation, and to get Kesha out of her contract.
TMZ broke the story earlier this year when Kesha revealed that she was receiving treatment for an eating disorder that Dr. Luke had caused by emotionally and physically abusing her, and in October revealed that she was subsequently filing a lawsuit against the producer. Consequence of Sound reported,
“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 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.”
Only a few hours after Kesha announced her lawsuit towards Dr. Luke, he announced his countersuit towards Kesha claiming extortion. Most recently, Dr. Luke has expanded the lawsuit to Kesha’s mother, songwriter Pebe Sebert, claiming she fed her daughter’s anger and encouraged her to spread lies about the producer to get Kesha out of her contract.
Kesha (who was born Kesha Rose Serbert) was signed to Dr. Luke’s label Kemosabe Entertainment when she was eighteen. After being put on hold by Dr. Luke while he pursued other projects, Kesha drew the attention of A&R Kara DioGuardi, who wanted to sign Kesha to Warner Bros Records, but couldn’t due to Kesha’s contract with Dr. Luke.
After appearing in Katy Perry’s music video for “I Kissed A Girl” and doing background vocals for numerous artists, Kesha’s breakthrough came in 2009 when she sang on Flo Rida’s “Right Round,” although she wasn’t credited. In 2010, she released her first album Animal, which debuted as the number one album on the US charts. The album featured hit singles such as “Tik Tok” and “We R Who We R.”
In 2012, she released her second studio album, Warrior, which was produced in collaboration with Dr. Luke and The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne. That year, Kesha also released an autobiography entitled My Crazy Beautiful Life, which became a TV series documentary on MTV in 2013.
Kesha claims to have had little creative control over her music, even claiming she was forced to sing hit single “Die Young,” although she later refracted that statement.
After her stint in rehab in January, Kesha filed a lawsuit against Dr. Luke claiming her sexually, emotionally, and physically abused her. Dr. Luke immediately responded with a countersuit claiming extortion, and has most recently also filed suit against Kesha’s mother for defamation and spreading lies, and is seeking damages of $75,000.
Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna