Ke$ha is no longer. Now, she is just Kesha. This has been going on for a few years, although we have not seen much from the Billboard chart-topping pop star.
The Nashville-born musician is back in the news, however, after taking Dr. Luke – the former executive producer of her last two albums – to court, claiming he raped, harassed and drugged her, creating a pattern of sexual assault and mental abuse. Bound to a five-album deal, Kesha was attempting to have Dr. Luke held legally accountable for his actions and get out of working with him in the future. Kesha claimed that Dr. Luke “took her down to the beach alone to have a talk with her and then threatened that if she ever mentioned the rape to anyone, he would shut her career down, take away all her publishing and recording rights, and otherwise destroy, not only her life, but her entire family’s lives as well.”
Although Kesha is technically “free” from working with Dr. Luke on the records she still contractually owes Sony, the producer’s imprint brand would be on those releases and therefore, he would still profit from the work. As The Atlantic pointed out, “Kesha’s argument is that the exploitation that allegedly happened to her should stop not only on a personal level, but a financial one.”
Since a judge denied Kesha’s preliminary injunction to make music without Sony’s long time hit maker, Twitter has blown up with support for the pop star (the judge has yet to rule on the sexual assault charges). #FreeKesha trended (again) while the die-hard fans who questioned the relationship between Dr. Luke and Kesha back in 2013 (they thought he was too controlling and over taking her creativity) are again voicing their support for the pop star.
Dr. Luke finally took to Twitter to defend himself over the allegations, mainly citing that since a court did not find him guilty, then he is innocent. His lawyers, meanwhile, accused Kesha of outright extortion.
Many other pop stars reached out to Kesha in support, especially online. Taylor Swift gave her $250,000 to help with her legal issues, and rock musician Jack Antonoff (who also has worked with Swift) publicly offered to work with Kesha despite the contracts. Fiona Apple, Margaret Cho, Lena Dunham, Grimes and many other female musicians and icons came forward on social media to stand up for Kesha in her grief. Even Kelly Clarkson, who worked with Dr. Luke, tweeted, “[sic] Trying 2 not say anything since I can’t say anything nice about a person….so this is me not talking about Dr. Luke.”
I am skeptical when serious allegations happen in the court of public opinion through social media. However, Kesha did not use Twitter to call out her abuser. She hired a lawyer and sued. I highly doubt she would manifest a lie about something so serious, something that draws so much victimizing public attention to her, unless she felt this was dire to her sanity and to move on.
Dr. Luke signed and swept up Kesha when she was 18-year-old and they worked together in a tight-knit relationship for years. I am lucky enough to have only worked with male producers who respected me as an equal. I did not grow up in the predatory work of pop. I was not scooped up as a teen and told I need to lose weight because I look like a “fucking refrigerator” (Dr. Luke said to Kesha). I started in shitty basements. That’s kind of the plus of doing music because it’s fun and not because it’s going to make you a star.
Seeing photos of her crying in that court room when the judge denied her allegations is heartbreaking. A slap of reality that the world is not your oyster and shitty people get away with shitty things all the time.
Kesha may have lost the case, but what she ignited was the world wide support of her fans and peers. Twitter echoed something back for her that wasn’t demeaning or defeating. Instead, the mob let her know that even though a judge did not believe her, they all do.
