Producer Accused Of Sexual Assault By Singer Kesha Receives Another Court Win

The man who was accused of sexual assault by singer Kesha Rose Sebert, or Ke$ha, received another win in court on Thursday when an appeals judge ruled he didn’t have to meet a higher standard of review for his defamation claims since he isn’t a household name.

Bloomberg Law reported that the Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division, First Department, ruled that music producer Lukasz Gottwald, known as Dr. Luke, didn’t have to meet a higher bar for defamation because even though he is “an acclaimed producer, he isn’t a household name.” This means Gottwald “isn’t a public figure, or even a limited-purpose public figure, and therefore isn’t required to show that Kesha acted with malice or gross irresponsibility,” Bloomberg reported.

The appeals court also upheld a lower court judge’s finding that Kesha defamed Gottwald when she allegedly texted Lady Gaga in 2016, falsely the producer raped her and another artist. Those text messages allegedly led to Lady Gaga spreading false allegations regarding Gottwald.

Bloomberg reported that in February 2020, “the New York County Supreme Court denied Kesha’s motion for summary judgment on the defamation claims.”

The lawsuit stems from a recording agreement Kesha signed with Gottwald in 2005, which reportedly required Kesha “to provide Gottwald’s production company, KMI, exclusive recording services that could be extended through the release of her sixth album,” Bloomberg reported. Kesha later tried to get out of the agreement and threatened to accuse Gottwald of drugging and sexually abusing her at a party in October 2005, a claim Gottwald has vigorously denied.

In 2010, Kesha and her mother both testified that the drugging and sexual assault never happened. The testimony came in a lawsuit filed by Kesha’s former managers against the singer and Gottwald.

Even with that testimony, Kesha continued to make accusations against Gottwald, which were parroted uncritically by the media and activists. Gottwald alleges this was done to try and get him to release the singer from their recording agreement.

In 2016, Gottwald’s attorney, Christine Lepera, called the allegations against him “outright lies that have been advanced to extort a contract renegotiation and money.”

“Kesha and her counsel have cavalierly subjected Dr. Luke and his family to trial by Twitter, using a vicious smear campaign to ruin his reputation for financial gain while failing to support their claims,” Lepera added.

Lepera made the statements after a judge ruled against Kesha’s attempt to end her recording agreement with Gottwald.

“[The court] found that Kesha is already ‘free’ to record and release music without working with Dr. Luke as a producer if she doesn’t want to. Any claim that she isn’t ‘free’ is a myth,” Lepera said.

She added that the court “also noted multiple times that her vague abuse allegations were devoid of factual detail, and that there was no evidence, whether from doctors or anyone else, to support them.”

The New York appellate court on Thursday granted partial summary judgement to Gottwald for Kesha’s text to Lady Gaga, agreeing that it was defamation.

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