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Kesha Sues Producer Dr. Luke For Sexual Assault
Dr. Luke Gottwald and singer Ke$ha onstage at the 28th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards on April 27, 2011. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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Kesha claims in a new lawsuit that she has been abused by her longtime producer Dr. Luke over the last 10 years. Kesha says that since she was signed at age 18, Dr. Luke has sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused her, according to TMZ. The suit says he made repeated sexual advances toward her. In one instance, the lawsuit claims that Dr. Luke drugged her before forcing himself on her during a plane ride. In another, she says woke up naked in Dr. Luke's bed naked, sore and sick a day after Dr. Luke gave her "sober pills." She says she had no clue how she got there. She also says that while at his Malibu home, he began attacking her and "violently thrashing his arms at her." She says she escaped and ran down PCH barefoot and hid in the mountains.
The lawsuit says Dr. Luke told her, "You are not that pretty, you are not that talented, you are just lucky to have me."
Kesha says all of this abuse led to her eating disorder. She checked into a rehab clinic earlier this year for treatment. The lawsuit asks that she be let out of her contract with the producer.
Her attorney Mark Geragos tells TMZ, "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."
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The MTV show My Crazy Beautiful Life showed Kesha behind the scenes, and it led her fans to believe that she lost creative control and was being forced by her producer to put out the same kind of party songs. Over 12,000 of Kesha's fans signed a petition asking that she be released from the "severe pop puppeteer act."
Last yearRolling Stone asked her whether she had any creative control:
Not really. What's been put out as singles have just perpetuated a particular image that may or may not be entirely accurate. I'd like to show the world other sides of my personality. I don't want to just continue putting out the same song and becoming a parody myself. I have so much more to offer than that and I can't wait till the world really gets to hear that on the radio.
Dr. Luke hasn't responded to TMZ's request for comment.
UPDATE 1:05 p.m.: Dr. Luke is filing his own countersuit claiming that Kesha tried to extort him and vowed to file the lawsuit if she wasn't released from her contract, according to TMZ. His lawyer Christine Lepera told TMZ that Kesha's lawsuit is part of "a campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements" orchestrated by Kesha's mom and her new management firm. The suit claims that Kesha and her mom have already admitted that the claims were false.
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