Judge refuses to let Kesha escape Sony contract following abuse accusations against producer Dr Luke

Katie Baillie

(Picture: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Singer Kesha has been denied her request to break her contract with Sony following her sexual abuse allegations against producer Dr. Luke.
Kesha filed the lawsuit in 2014 claiming that Dr. Luke, real name Lukasz Gottwald, physically and sexually assaulted her when she was 18.
The lawsuit alleged that Kesha was plied with drugs and alcohol and on one occasion she woke up naked in his bed with no memory of what had happened. According to TMZ, as part of the injunction Kesha was seeking to ‘make an album outside of Sony’ and to be released from working with the producer. Her career has been on hiatus since she filed the suit.
However, Dr Luke countersued, claiming the allegations were a ‘campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements.’

(Picture: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

The judge, Justice Kornreich, ruled that Kesha must remain in her contract and work under another producer within the Sony umbrella, stating it would undermine other such contracts were it dissolved, particularly as Kesha’s had been ‘heavily negotiated’ in the first place.
She said it was not reasonable to ‘decimate a contract that was heavily negotiated and typical for the industry’ according to the Hollywood reporter.
Other singers came out in support of Kesha, and the hashtag #FreeKesha trended on Twitter as fans petitioned for the judge to rethink her ruling.