We’ve been covering the horror show that is Kesha’s case against her former producer, Lukasz Gottwald (A.K.A. Dr. Luke), in which she accuses him of sexual assault and abuse. Now Sony, parent company to Dr. Luke’s production company, Kemosabe Records, is distancing itself from the producer (finally!). In many ways, this is a victory for Kesha. In many ways, it’s not.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony and Dr. Luke are currently negotiating a split. According to court documents, Dr. Luke is no longer CEO of Kemosabe Records (through which he produced Kesha’s music) and Sony says he no longer has authority to act on its behalf. There are also visible signs of the split. Most notably, the website has removed the dollar sign from Kesha’s name, as Dr. Luke apparently owned that?
Dr Luke owns the rights to “KE$HA”, she’s now listed as Kesha on RCA’s website pic.twitter.com/QF9Rqsa6kn
— austin (@imaustinbye) April 25, 2017
It was probably Dr. Luke’s stupid idea, and was certainly not the most interesting thing about her or her music, so…
Here’s the thing: while it’s great that Sony is finally, actively distancing themselves from an accused abuser of their artists, there are a couple of ways in which this can backfire on Kesha. First, not having Sony as a go-between may make her legal situation worse, as there would now be nothing stopping Dr. Luke from raining his assholery all over everything in Kesha’s life.
Secondly, according to Hello Giggles, “Gottwald’s lawyers have been building a huge defamation case against the singer, too, with the producer’s legal representatives noting that his career and reputation has been irreparably damaged as a result of Kesha’s allegations (despite these claims, however, Variety reports that it’s believed that Gottwald and Prescription Songs have constantly been in work throughout the last few years).”
Considering how Kesha’s appeals have been going, and how judges seem to be beholden to corporate greed rather than with anything resembling justice, I wouldn’t be surprised if his split with Sony were used against her in court.
Although, as it says above, Dr. Luke hasn’t exactly stopped making music throughout this legal battle, so…he can try to say his career has been “hurt,” but…
Kesha’s most recent posts on Instagram show us a happy, grateful Kesha currently on tour. It seems that, despite the continuing uncertainty even after this news about Sony, Kesha continues to persevere.
Nevertheless, she persisted.
(image: Tinseltown/Shutterstock)
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