Sony Music has cut ties with music producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, TheWrap has learned.
After years of calls for Sony to drop the hitmaker following allegations of sexual assault and emotional abuse, court documents filed by Sony’s laywers last week show that Gottwalt is no longer the CEO of Sony’s Kemosabe Records imprint and “does not have authority to act on its behalf.”
Gottwald established his Kemosabe Records label at Sony Music back in 2011, beginning a years-long relationship between the two companies that generated hits for stars like Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson and Kesha. The news comes as the producer’s five-year contract with Sony was set to expire sometime this year.
Sony and reps for Gottwald did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
However, the company came under fire in 2014 when Kesha filed a lawsuit against Gottwald, accusing him of rape and emotional abuse. Gottwald has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Kesha 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. TheWrap previously reported in 2016 that the backlash against Sony had the company weighing how it could let go of Gottwald a year ahead of his contract expiration.
Gottwald fired back with his own countersuit against Kesha, claiming that the singer’s “malicious campaign” was not motivated by economics, but rather was “designed solely to ruin Plaintiffs’ reputation and business interests.”