Kesha has filed a lawsuit alleging that her former producer and collaborator Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald sexually, verbally, emotionally and physically abused her starting when she signed with him, when she was 18 years old.
According to TMZ and confirmed by Los Angeles Superior Court documents obtained by Billboard, the “Tik Tok” singer (real name Kesha Sebert) claims that Dr. Luke forced her to take drugs and drink alcohol, raped her while she was drugged, physically attacked her in his Malibu home, and more.
Reads one statement from documents: “Ms. Sebert took the pills and woke up the following afternoon, naked in Dr. Luke's bed, sore and sick, with no memory of how she got there. Ms. Sebert immediately called her mother and made a 'fresh complaint,' telling her that she was naked in Dr. Luke's hotel room, she did not know where the clothes were, that Dr. Luke had raped her, and that she needed to go to the emergency room.”
Kesha further alleges that the producer would commandeer many aspects of her professional life, asserting creative and business control in affairs like her reality TV show and tours.
Earlier this year, Kesha (now 27) went into rehab to treat an eating disorder, which she claimed had stemmed from incendiary comments about her weight from Dr. Luke.
“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,” Kesha's lawyer Mark Geragos told TMZ.
The lawsuit filed on her behalf by Geragos “asserts causes of action of sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, civil harassment, unfair business, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.” Her legal team seeks to void her contract with Dr. Luke and allow her to seek representation from other producers and labels.
Gottwald has filed a countersuit, via the New York Supreme Court, against Kesha, her mom Pebe and representatives at Vector Management. He alleges her lawsuit is an attempt to extort him, and to sever their contract.
“As part of the effort to get out of the Gottwald Recording Agreement, Kesha and Pebe have also orchestrated a campaign of publishing false and shocking accusations against Gottwald to extort Plaintiffs into letting Kesha out of the Gottwald Recording Agreement,” states the complaint.
In response to Kesha's own filing, Gottwald's legal team called the accusations “currilous and false statements of purported physical and mental abuse of Kesha. These are allegations that Kesha and Pebe have themselves admitted are false.”