Kesha and Dr. Luke reach legal settlement in defamation lawsuit
The agreement brings the long-running battle to an end
By Joe Goggins
Kesha and Dr. Luke have reached a legal settlement, bringing to an end a defamation lawsuit that has run for nearly a decade.
The pair shared the same statement to their Instagram pages, in which they confirmed that they had “agreed to a resolution.” The dispute began in 2014, when ‘TiK ToK’ singer Kesha sued pop producer Luke, real name Lukasz Gottwald, in an attempt to void a contractual agreement between the pair because of what she claimed was his having “sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused [Kesha] to the point where [she] nearly lost her life”.
Gottwald countersued, accusing Kesha of having fabricated the claims. The car had been due to final reach a court trial in New York on July 19. Just days ago, a judge in the state ruled that Gottwald could be considered a pubic figure, which would have raised the threshold in terms of burden of proof for the producer to successfully demonstrate that he had been defamed. Kesha had alleged that he had drugged and raped her on two occasions.
Both were quoted in the identical Instagram statements. “Only god knows what happened that night,” said Kesha. ”As I have always said, I cannot recount everything that happened. I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved.”
Gottwald said he was pleased to be able to “put this difficult matter behind me and move on with my life”. He continued: ”While I appreciate Kesha again acknowledging that she cannot recount what happened that night in 2005, I am absolutely certain that nothing happened. I never drugged or assaulted her and would never do that to anyone. For the sake of my family, I have vigorously fought to clear my name for nearly 10 years.”
The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed publicly. Kesha mined her experiences with the legal dispute for Lyrica inspiration on her most recent album, Gag Order, which was released last month and met with a largely positive critical reception.