Kesha settles producer Dr. Luke’s defamation lawsuit over rape accusation
Protesters demonstrate in support of the singer Kesha outside of Sony headquarters in New York March 11, 2016. Image: Reuters/Lucas Jackson
Pop star Kesha on Thursday, June 22, settled a lawsuit brought by her former producer Dr. Luke, who claimed that she defamed him by accusing him of raping her.
Terms of the settlement, announced in a joint statement posted on Instagram, were not made public. Neither admitted wrongdoing.
“I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one,” the singer, whose full name is Kesha Rose Sebert, said in the statement.
Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, denied assaulting Kesha and said it was “time for me to put this difficult matter behind me and move on with my life.”
A lawyer for Dr. Luke had no further comment, and a lawyer for Kesha could not immediately be reached for comment.
The agreement came just over a week after New York’s highest court handed Kesha a significant legal victory. The New York Court of Appeals found that Dr. Luke was a public figure, and so would need to prove that Kesha acted with “actual malice” in order for him to prevail in his 2014 lawsuit.
The court also said that Kesha should be allowed to file counterclaims against Dr. Luke for emotional distress, punitive damages and legal fees. The ruling reversed lower court rulings against Kesha, clearing the way for her case to go to trial.
In 2014, Kesha sued Dr. Luke and Sony Group’s Sony Music in order to get out of her multi-album recording deal, saying the producer had drugged and raped her in 2005.
Dr. Luke then sued her for defamation, denying the claim and saying the singer had made a series of false statements on social media, in court filings and in text messages to fellow pop star Lady Gaga.
Kesha had a string of hits beginning in 2009, including “Tik Tok” and “We R Who We R.” AP/ra
