Kesha, whose full name
is Kesha Rose Sebert, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court
charging renowned producer Dr. Luke, 41, with controlling her life since
he "induced" her to drop out of high school at age 18. According to the
complaint, Dr. Luke once forced her to snort an illegal drug before
boarding a flight. In her most alarming claim, the 27-year-old superstar
said that she once took pills that she alleges turned out to be a date
rape drug.
"Ms. Sebert took the
pills and woke up the following afternoon, naked in Dr. Luke's bed, sore
and sick, with no memory of how she got there," the lawsuit alleges.
"Ms. Sebert immediately called her mother and made a 'fresh complaint'
telling her that she was naked in Dr. Luke's hotel room, she did not
know where the clothes were, that Dr. Luke had raped her, and that she
needed to go to the emergency room."
In the lawsuit, Kesha admits she
never reported the crimes until now and explains that Dr. Luke
threatened to "destroy" her and her family if she went public with the
abuse charges. She also claims that Dr. Luke forced her to enter
one-sided, long-term contracts denying her "any meaningful profit from
her work due to Dr. Luke's exploitation of her over the last decade."
In January, Kesha
checked herself into a rehab for treatment for an eating disorder, which
her mother blamed on Dr. Luke in an interview with People. The lawsuit
alleges that Kesha's doctors "concluded that Dr. Luke had physically and
psychologically damaged Ms. Sebert to the point where continuing such
contact would be 'life threatening' to Ms. Sebert."
Kesha's attorney Mark Geragos explained why Kesha came forward now in a statement to NBC News.
“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 sexual assault at the hands of Dr.
Luke," he said. "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. Kesha is focused on moving
her life and her career beyond this terrible time.”
Dr. Luke, a Grammy-nominated
songwriter and producer who has worked with Britney Spears, Kelly
Clarkson and many others, signed Kesha in 2005. In his countersuit filed
in Supreme Court of New York County, Dr. Luke claims that Kesha and her
mother, Pebe, are trying to extort him because they want him to release
her from their contract.
"As set forth in the
complaint that we have filed on behalf of Dr. Luke, 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," Dr.
Luke's attorney Christine Lepera said in a statement to NBC News. "These
are allegations that Kesha and Pebe have themselves admitted are false.
The complaint explains that Kesha and her mother Pebe have wielded
these defamatory statements in an attempt to extort Gottwald into
releasing Kesha from her exclusive recording agreement with Dr. Luke."
Lepera said neither she
nor her client had read Kesha's lawsuit, but "We are confident that Dr.
Luke will prevail in all matters, and that our client will be awarded
substantial damages for this malicious conduct."
Hours after Lepera filed
the lawsuit, Geragos responded: “This is just another pathetic and
entirely predictable example of Dr. Luke’s continued abuse, and a
misguided attempt to keep Kesha under his tyrannical control. This
lawsuit has absolutely no basis in fact, the law or reality.Kesha is
focused on reclaiming her voice and her freedom. She is determined to
move on with her life and her career by putting this dark period behind
her.”
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