The pop singer Kesha suffered another setback this week in her long-running legal fight against Dr. Luke, her former producer, whom she accused of rape almost six years ago.
The two filed dueling lawsuits on the same day in October 2014, with Kesha asking to be released from her contracts with Dr. Luke’s companies, on account of the assault she accused him of, and Dr. Luke saying that Kesha had defamed him with a “sham” allegation to escape her contractual obligations.
Since that time — three years before #MeToo swept the entertainment industry — the story has been debated in public and online, and it has grinded through the courts on its way to a possible trial.
So far, Kesha (born Kesha Rose Sebert) has largely prevailed in the theater of public opinion, making an emotional performance at the 2018 Grammy Awards — surrounded by fellow women in music, all in white — and releasing two new albums. Dr. Luke, on the other hand, has practically disappeared from the pop charts he once dominated.
But in the courts, Dr. Luke (born Lukasz Gottwald) has been consistently winning. Kesha’s original case was dismissed, and in 2018 a New York appeals court blocked her from filing a counterclaim against Dr. Luke that would have voided their business relationship.
On Thursday, the New York judge overseeing Dr. Luke’s case, over defamation and breach of contract, made a number of decisions that will make it tougher for Kesha to prevail at trial.
The judge, Jennifer G. Schecter of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, decided that Dr. Luke is not well-known enough to be considered a “public figure,” which makes it easier for him to prove that he had been defamed if a jury concludes that he did not rape Kesha. The judge also ruled that Kesha could be held “vicariously liable” if a jury finds that her lawyer and public relations firm made defamatory statements on her behalf, including speaking about the case to the news media.
The judge also decided that Dr. Luke had already proved that Kesha defamed him when she told Lady Gaga in a text message that he had raped Katy Perry, which Perry denied. “There is no evidence whatsoever,” the judge wrote, “that Gottwald raped Katy Perry or that Katy Perry, whose sworn testimony is unrefuted, must not be believed.” The decision means that even if Kesha prevails in the rest of the case, she could have to pay Dr. Luke for that.
Still, the judge said that a number of issues remain for a jury to decide. Many of those rest on the question of whether Dr. Luke did, in fact, rape Kesha. She claims that he drugged her at a party in 2005 and then raped her later that night in his hotel room; Dr. Luke denied doing either, and said that her account is riddled with inconsistencies.
Judge Schecter wrote: “This court cannot decide, as a matter of law on papers and without any assessment of credibility, who should be believed,” and whether Kesha filed her original suit “in good faith or as a sham to defame Gottwald and obtain business leverage.”
“That decision is for the jury,” the judge wrote.
No date has been set for a trial, and Kesha’s lawyers said in a statement that they would “immediately appeal” Judge Schecter’s ruling.
Christine Lepera, a lawyer for Dr. Luke, said her client was “looking forward to the trial of his case,” which he has pursued “to seek recovery for the serious harm Kesha’s false accusations of rape have caused Dr. Luke, his family and his business.”
Source: Music - nytimes.com
