Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

Kesha fans to stage protest outside next court hearing in Dr Luke lawsuit

By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 22 January 2016

Kesha fans are planning to stage a protest outside the New York State Supreme Courthouse next Tuesday, when the next hearing in the singer’s ongoing legal battle with producer Dr Luke is due to take place.

As previously reported, Kesha Sebert accuses Lukasz ‘Dr Luke’ Gottwald of plying her with drugs and alcohol and raping her as a teenager. He has countersued for defamation, saying that these are fabrications invented in an attempt to get out of her contract with his Kemosabe Records label.

In November last year, Sebert filed an injunction to allow her to record a new album directly for Kemosabe parent company Sony Music. Her contract currently locks her into working with Gottwald, which she obviously does not want to do. The ongoing legal actions complicate the situation further, and with Sebert unable to record, she argues that her career is on the verge of collapse.

A petition calling on Sony Music CEO Doug Morris to personally step in and release her from her contract with Gottwald’s label has gained over 100,000 signatures. And it is the organisers of that petition who are now planning to stage a protest outside the court next week.

According to The Huffington Post, protest organiser Michael Eisele said: “We’re protesting at the courthouse to drive home that Sony needs to listen to more than 107,000 petitioners who want to save Kesha’s career and human rights. Pop music fans are sending a clear message that they won’t stand for Sony’s completely unethical and inhumane treatment of a woman who was brave enough to speak up about sexual abuse”.