Kesha and producer Dr. Luke (real name Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald) have been locked in a legal battle for years. Now, a ruling has been made, and it is not in Kesha’s favor. ET reports that according to court documents, Kesha was ordered to pay over $373,000 to Dr. Luke as part of the ruling made against her in Dr. Luke’s defamation lawsuit.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter ruling says Kesha defamed the producer when she sent a text to Lady Gaga saying he had raped Katy Perry. In a 2017 deposition, Perry denied that Dr. Luke sexually assaulted her. Schecter ruled that Kesha “made a false statement to Lady Gaga about Gottwald that was defamatory per se,” and continued, “There is no evidence whatsoever that [Dr. Luke] raped Katy Perry. Moreover, publication of a false statement to even one person, here Lady Gaga, is sufficient to impose liability.”
$373,671.88 is what Kesha was deemed to owe KMI, Dr. Luke’s record company, on the $1.3 million in late payments on royalty earnings she didn’t give to KMI, which constituted a breach of contract.
Dr. Luke’s legal team shared a statement with ET that reads:
“Dr. Luke is pursuing this lawsuit to seek recovery for the serious harm Kesha’s false accusations of rape have caused Dr. Luke, his family and his business. Today’s important decision by the Court in Dr. Luke’s lawsuit brings him closer to the justice that he seeks.
First, the Court has now ruled that Kesha made a false and defamatory accusation about Dr. Luke when she baselessly claimed that he raped Katy Perry. Second, the Court rejected Kesha’s attempts to invoke legal technicalities to avoid responsibility for her statements. And third, the Court also correctly held that Kesha breached her contract with Dr. Luke’s company. Dr. Luke looks forward to the trial of his case where he will prove that Kesha’s other false statements about him were equally false and defamatory.”
Meanwhile, Kesha’s legal team said in a statement to Variety, “We disagree with the Court’s rulings. We plan to immediately appeal.”
This is not the final ruling in the case, as the defamation suit will be moved to trial, where a jury will determine if Kesha’s allegations against Dr. Luke were made in “good faith,” or if they were an attempt to gain leverage over the producer.
