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Dr Luke says Kesha lawyer lied under oath, lawyer calls Luke a “desperate man”
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 21 November 2019
Dr Luke wants a lawyer who he accuses of defamation also held in contempt of court in the latest side-show to the producer’s long-running legal battle with Kesha.
The core dispute, of course, centres on Kesha’s allegation that Luke sexually assaulted her. He has always denied that claim and argues that Kesha made it up in a bid to get out of contractual commitments to his various companies. He has since argued the she and her legal team have employed more PR tactics than legal arguments in a bid to destroy his reputation outside the courtroom.
Along the way there have been multiple elements to this dispute in multiple American states. And that included the defamation lawsuit filed against lawyer Mark Geragos, who was representing Kesha for a time. That particular defamation claim – it’s not the only one in the wider Kesha v Luke case – related to comments Geragos made in which he implied that Luke had sexually assaulted Lady Gaga.
However, the latest bust up between the producer and the lawyer relates to the latter’s alleged conduct while representing Kesha and subsequently fighting the defamation claim.
Luke’s team alleges that in 2017, during a deposition under oath, Geragos claimed that various documents the court had requested to see had been deleted. But now, Luke’s reps say, the same documents have been handed over as part of other ongoing legal proceedings. Which, they go on, means he lied under oath back in 2017, so committed perjury.
The new legal claim asking the court to hold Geragos and his firm in contempt says: “Geragos falsely stated under oath at his court-ordered deposition in this action that all but three documents which this court had ordered the Geragos parties to produce did not exist because they had been deleted. Years after this deposition, the Geragos parties have now produced dozens of these purportedly deleted and non-existent documents to plaintiffs in a separate litigation”.
“The Geragos parties’ motivation for concealing these documents is obvious”, the legal filing goes on. “This is a defamation action, arising from the efforts of defendant, Geragos, and defendant’s other representatives to destroy [Luke]’s reputation and business through a coordinated media campaign. By concealing the documents which the court ordered the Geragos parties to produce, the Geragos parties sought – and still seek – to hide the full scope of those efforts, and the Geragos parties’ involvement with them”.
Responding the new legal claim, Geragos’s firm pulls no punches, even referencing the totally unrelated copyright case over Katy Perry’s ‘Dark Horse’, which Luke co-wrote. A spokesperson for Geragos & Geragos told The Hollywood Reporter: “The motion, which reads more like an incoherent and unintelligible sloppy rant, is entirely without merit. It appears that Luke is increasingly desperate after his last multi-million dollar litigation loss in the Katy Perry case. Frankly, he’s a sad and desperate man who needs a new hobby”.
With such bold talking, it will be interesting to see how this side show to the main Luke v Kesha proceedings now plays out.
