Record producer Dr. Luke isn’t done sparring with Kesha in the court system — and this time he’s dragging Lady Gaga into the litigious mix.
Dr. Luke — real name Lukasz Gottwald — has filed new paperwork in his ongoing lawsuit against “Tik Tok” singer Kesha, claiming that his former protege and her mother “embarked on a vicious campaign to destroy” him.
“[C]ontrary to the statements put out by Kesha’s sophisticated PR operation, it
is Kesha and her team — and not Gottwald — who are the bullies here,” the new paperwork, filed Monday in New York, reads. “As set forth in detail
herein, they have engaged in a vicious campaign of social media and other harassment and have cunningly circulated vile falsehoods about Gottwald, with the specific and admitted intent of destroying him.”
Among the accusations by Gottwald, who’s seeking to add a defamation count to his complaint against Kesha: That she sent a text message to fellow singer Lady Gaga in February 2016, falsely alleging that Gottwald had raped Kesha and another recording artist.
“Kesha’s assertions to Lady Gaga were completely false,” the proposed amended complaint filed by Dr. Luke’s legal team reads. “Gottwald did not rape Kesha, and he did not rape the Other Recording Artist.”
The new filing claims that Kesha’s “malicious campaign” isn’t motivated by economics, but rather was “designed solely to ruin Plaintiffs’ reputation and business interests.”
Kesha sued Dr. Luke, claiming that he sexually and emotionally abused her. The producer, who has not been criminally charged, has denied the allegations.She also added Sony to the lawsuit, contending that the company “had knowledge of Dr. Luke treating female entertainers under his tutelage and supervision in the same manner as alleged here regarding [Kesha] which includes both physical and emotional abuse.”
The singer eventually lost a bid to record outside of her contract with Sony, after a judge found that Sony had said that she could work with producers other than Gottwald under her pact with the music company.
While Kesha was unsuccessful in getting out of her Sony contract, the singer did enjoy a groundswell of support from fans and fellow artists alike, with artists such as Adele and Lady Gaga expressing their solidarity with her.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.