Kesha Sues Producer Dr. Luke, Accuses Him of Abuse

Published at 1:24 pm, October 14, 2014

EastIdahoNews.com Staff

ABC/Bob D’Amico(NEW YORK) — Kesha’s mother has already gone on record blaming Dr. Luke, the super-producer behind many of her biggest hits, for bullying her into an eating disorder. Now, the singer herself has filed suit against Dr. Luke, accusing him of far more than that.

The lawsuit accuses the producer, born Lukasz Gottwald, of “sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally” abusing Kesha until “she nearly lost her life.”

Kesha’s attorney says in a statement, “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.”

“The facts presented in our lawsuit paint a picture of a man who is controlling and willing to commit horrible acts of abuse in an attempt to intimidate an impressionable, talented, young female artist into submission for his personal gain,” the statement continues. “Kesha is focused on moving her life and her career beyond this terrible time.”

When Kesha entered rehab for an eating disorder at the very start of 2014, her mother gave several interviews in which she blamed Dr. Luke, in part, for bullying her daughter such that her resulting poor self-image drove her to her eating disorder. But in the lawsuit, she further claims he continually made sexual advances towards her, and plied her with drugs and alcohol so he could take advantage of her sexually.

For example, Kesha accuses Luke of forcing her to snort “an illegal drug” before boarding a plane, and says during the flight, he forced himself on her sexually. On another occasion, Kesha claims, Luke gave her the “date-rape” drug GHB, after which she says she woke up naked in his bed, “sore and sick,” with no memory of how she had gotten there.

Kesha also claims in her suit that Luke continually told her how worthless and inferior she was, and that she would be nothing without him. Soon, she says, she began to believe him. He also allegedly insulted her physical appearance and constantly harangued her about losing weight, leading to the eating disorder.

In addition, the singer claims that Luke told her that if she ever told anyone about his behavior, he would take away all her publishing and recording rights and destroy her career. He also, according to Kesha, threatened her family’s physical safety.

When Kesha finally sought help in early 2014 for bulimia nervosa, post-traumatic stress and depression, the complaint states, doctors “concluded that Luke has physically and psychologically damaged” her to such a point that continuing contact with him would be “life-threatening.”

However, Dr. Luke has now filed his own lawsuit against Kesha, claiming she’s attempting to extort him.

In a statement to ABC News, his lawyer says, “Kesha and her mother are engaged in a campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements about Dr. Luke to third parties, including scurrilous and false statements of purported physical and mental abuse of Kesha. These are allegations that Kesha and [her mother] Pebe have themselves admitted are false.”

The statement continues, “The complaint explains that Kesha and her mother Pebe have wielded these defamatory statements in an attempt to extort [Luke] into releasing Kesha from her exclusive recording agreement with [him].”

“We understand that Kesha has filed a lawsuit of her own against Dr. Luke, though we have not yet seen it,” concludes the statement. “Undoubtedly, Kesha’s lawsuit is nothing more than a continuation of her bad and offensive acts. We are confident that Dr. Luke will prevail in all matters, and that our client will be awarded substantial damages for this malicious conduct.”