Music
Kesha says Sony offered to break her contract if she recanted rape allegations
by Jeremy Mersereau
April 4, 2016
Kesha claims her label offered to break her contract with Dr. Luke if she recanted her sexual assault accusations.
The ongoing legal battle between Kesha and super-producer/alleged abuser Dr. Luke, a.k.a. Lukasz Gottwald, continued to develop over the weekend, when Kesha took to her Instagram account to detail a purported backroom deal that would have granted her her freedom from her recording contract with Sony.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Kesha alleged that she was offered her release from her recording contract with Luke’s label, Kemosabe Records, if she apologized publicly for her accusations against her former producer and stated that she had never been sexually assaulted.
“So. I got offered my freedom if I were to lie,” Kesha wrote. “I would have to APOLOGIZE publicly and say that I never got raped. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS behind closed doors. I will not take back the TRUTH.”
Following the Instagram post, Dr. Luke’s legal team gave the following statement to Mashable:
“Kesha’s Instagram posting is false. The Court repeatedly stated Kesha is already free to record without Dr. Luke, and that she had not presented any facts supporting her claims. That’s because all the evidence — including Kesha’s own videotaped sworn testimony — show her allegations are false. The only thing Kesha is not free to do is to continue to lie about Dr. Luke through publicity stunts and outrageous smears, ignoring the fact that by her own free will she went to work and entered new contracts with Dr. Luke years after this ‘incident’ supposedly happened. Her goal all along has been solely personal enrichment by seeking to break contracts that brought her success and millions so she can enter into more lucrative ones. We look forward to our day in court holding Kesha accountable for her lies.”
It’s also worth noting that, though Kesha has previously been denied by legal authorities from being released from her contract, Dr. Luke and Sony have both stated they’re amenable to Kesha recording without Gottwald’s involvement.
Kesha’s legal team is currently in the process of appealing the court ruling that keeps the pop star under contract.
