Producer Dr. Luke and his legal team have issued a new statement, blasting the allegations of sexual assault by singer Kesha, who lost a court decision last week to allow her to work with another producer and leave Sony.
Kesha is suing Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, claiming that he raped and drugged her in 2006 when she was 18. She had tried to get out of her contract with Gottwald and Sony, thinking that Sony would not promote her if she worked with another producer. On Feb. 19, a New York Supreme Court judge did not agree, so she would not be allowed to record outside the contract.
Many on Twitter voiced support for Kesha, and Taylor Swift even donated $250,000 to her legal team.
Christine Lepara, Gottwald’s attorney, sent a statement to Rolling Stone today. As she did in court, Lepara said that Kesha’s allegations of assault are vague and without evidence. Kesha never reported the assault to law enforcement or Sony Music, Lepara notes. She also said that it is not true that Kesha cannot record with other producers and pointed out that Kesha signed contracts with Gottwald after the alleged assault took place.
Here's the full statement, via Rolling Stone:
"The New York County Supreme Court on Friday found that Kesha is already 'free' to record and release music without working with Dr. Luke as a producer if she doesn’t want to. Any claim that she isn’t 'free' is a myth. The sound decision Friday by the Court in denying Kesha's motion for an injunction made it clear Kesha's allegations of purported abuse were unconvincing and that she had no basis to void record contracts and copyrights. Dr. Luke and his companies invested in Kesha's success through their contributions, Sony Music has already spent over $11 million promoting Kesha, and Sony Music and its label Kemosabe Records are committed to continuing to promote her work.
"More significantly, the Court also noted multiple times that her vague abuse allegations were devoid of factual detail, and that there was no evidence, whether from doctors or anyone else, to support them.
"Tellingly, Kesha never reported any purported abuse or rape to any law enforcement authority, or even to Sony Music, and further swore under oath in another matter, while accompanied by her team of lawyers, that it never occurred. The goal of Kesha's counsel throughout has been to obtain a more lucrative contract through a shameless campaign of outrageous claims they will never stand behind in a court of law.
"As Dr. Luke has said repeatedly, the allegations against him are outright lies that have been advanced to extort a contract renegotiation and money. Kesha and her counsel have cavalierly subjected Dr. Luke and his family to trial by Twitter, using a vicious smear campaign to ruin his reputation for financial gain while failing to support their claims. Kesha to date has never verified the allegations in this case--even when given the opportunity in her affidavit. Nor has she ever offered a credible explanation as to why she would have signed a second recording agreement, recorded two albums and an EP and signed a publishing deal with Dr. Luke after allegedly being sexually abused. It will further be shown that the incidents alleged never happened."