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Kesha says she will no longer include abuse allegations in contractual dispute with Dr Luke
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 17 August 2016
Kesha last week told a court in New York that she would no longer include the allegations of sexual abuse against Dr Luke in her contractual dispute with the producer.
As previously reported, there have been various strands to the long-running legal battle between Kesha Sebert and her one time musical mentor Lukasz Gottwald, with litigation filed in three different states.
The headline-grabbing element of the whole dispute has been Sebert’s allegations that Gottwald plied her with drugs and alcohol and raped her as a teenager. He has always denied those allegations, and sued both the singer and her mother for defamation, arguing that the accusations were invented in a bid to force his hand in a contractual dispute.
Most attention to date has been on the New York cases, with Sebert voluntarily dismissing her litigation in California at the start of the month. And even in New York, Sebert’s legal action was stripped back by the judge, who dismissed various elements of the singer’s lawsuit.
However, a breach of contract case in New York continues. And it’s in that litigation that Sebert says that she will no longer raise the abuse allegations as part of her case. In a new legal filing spotted by Billboard, the singer says she plans to fight Gottwald’s claims of breach of contract by presenting various “professional grievances”.
Sebert has contracts with various companies led by Gottwald, including his Sony Music imprint Kemosabe Records. The dispute with the producer has basically put her career on hold, though since a high profile stand-off in the New York courts earlier this year – where Gottwald scored more wins legally speaking, but Sebert won the PR war – the singer has started putting out new material and performing again.
She now seems to be working on putting together a new album for release via either Kemosabe or another Sony label, and there is a sense that Sebert herself now just wants to put the legal battle behind her as soon as possible and get on with promoting the new music.
