Music

Ke$ha and her mom are in rehab together

by Mark Teo

While Ke$ha is best known for her party-inducing pop songs (or her bizarre party antics), her 2014 has started off on a less-than-celebratory note. The “Heartbeat” singer is often celebrated for her bizarre, sometimes erratic behaviour, but she hinted that there may be deeper problems, a fact that was confounded when she checked into rehab for an eating disorder.

“I’m a crusader for being yourself and loving yourself, but I’ve found it hard to practice,” she said, in a statement uncovered by MTV. “I’ll be unavailable for the next 30 days, seeking treatment for my eating disorder … to learn to love myself again, exactly as I am.”

It follows a bumpy year for Ke$ha, whose last album, Warrior, was a commercial flop, and whose reality TV show, My Crazy Beautiful Life, had her in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Then, after filming and releasing the video for “Dirty Love,” she checked into rehab.

The video for “Dirty Love,” of course, bears significance to the narrative. After Ke$ha was admitted, her mother, Pebe Sebert, leaked some details about the filming of the video—in which Ke$ha’s controlling producer, Dr. Luke, allegedly criticized the star’s appearance.

“Dr. Luke had been telling her how she had to get in shape and lose weight and all this stuff. She was exercising and dieting and ultimately doing everything she could, but not getting thin fast enough,” she said. “And that’s when she first became bulimic…. Dr. Luke told a friend of ours he thought she looked like a refrigerator on her latest video, and could she please try to control her weight. After she went on a 14-day juice cleanse, he said, ‘Thank God you finally got rid of the weight!’”

Dr. Luke’s camp, who’ve also helped launch massive hits from Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus, denied the claims. (Though we should note: The family has long had problems with Dr. Luke’s clutches, even launching a “Free Ke$ha” petition last year.) But the accusations got even more serious—the elder Sebert also claimed that the producer’s control was ruining their family, and soon checked into rehab herself for post-traumatic stress disorder.

“This whole Dr. Luke thing has almost torn our family apart and taken over my life, and Ke$ha wants me to heal along with her,” Ke$ha’s mother said, according to Idolator.

Here’s wishing Ke$ha and her mom successful recoveries.