Comments made in a March 2016 Billboard interview have sparked the latest round of legal action in the messy battle between Dr. Luke and Kesha.
Kesha’s mom Pebe Sebert is being sued for libel by songwriter-producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald for the second time for comments made about him and his relationship with Kesha. Kesha’s camp has claimed that Dr. Luke subjected the recording artist to sexual and verbal abuse, allegations that Dr. Luke’s camp has vehemently denied. (The first libel suit came in autumn 2014.) Billboard reports that the suit cites comments made by Sebert on social media and when speaking with the music magazine.
Dr. Luke’s lawyer Christine Lepera says the statements made by Sebert are false and an effort to damage her client’s reputation:
After we originally filed suit against Pebe Sebert, she continued to make outrageous, false and defamatory statements against Dr. Luke in her widespread media campaign to damage him and smear his name… Pebe Sebert’s lawyers flat out refused to allow us to add those statements to the existing case or to toll the statute of limitations on them — so we’ve been compelled to file an additional action.
Alex Little, the lawyer for Kesha and Pebe Sebert, disputes the claims being made. Little told Pitchfork that her client is confident the evidence sides with her.
This marks Dr. Luke’s second effort to sue a mother for publicly supporting and believing her daughter about being raped. It’s also a transparent attempt to delay the trial of these issues. Mrs. Sebert looks forward to presenting her case to a jury as soon as possible. When the evidence is made public, she expects the jury will conclude that all of her statements have been justified.
Considering the amount of legal action brought forward in this conflict, we can’t imagine this will be the last accusation made before things come to some sort of a conclusion.
(Via Billboard)