In the four days since a New York-based judge ruled that Kesha cannot break her contract with Sony producer Dr. Luke (real name, Lukasz Gottwald) — the man she accused in October 2014 of raping her when she was 18 years old — the outpouring of support and love directed toward the pop star has been inspiring and heartwarming. (Gottwald has repeatedly denied the assault allegations and has countersued Kesha and her mother for defamation.) Celebrities like Taylor Swift donated money; fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff offered to record music with her outside of her contract with Sony; Lena Dunham penned an amazing essay for her Lenny letter; and fans have been sharing their support on all forms of social media. Now, Kesha has spoken out to thank fans supporting her through this time, and her words of gratitude are nothing short of powerful.
She shared the message on her personal Instagram account Tuesday evening, in the form of a caption beneath a selfie of her. The statement read:
I am beyond words in gratitude. thank you is not enough but it is all I have. a million times over and forever thank you. the support I have received has left my face swollen from tears. I love you all so much. <3 a statement too large for this format is coming....
The decision regarding Kesha's Sony contract was announced Friday. New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich was presiding over the case, and detailed the reason for her decision to prevent Kesha from breaking her contract — which is for six more albums — with Dr. Luke and Sony.
You’re asking the court to decimate a contract that was heavily negotiated and typical for the industry. My instinct is to do the commercially reasonable thing... [Sony] are willing to allow her to record without any involvement of Mr. Gottwald ... and there are papers from Mr. Gottwald that say he will agree to allow her to record without his involvement. [...] She doesn't have to work with him... Now the other side has come forward to say, 'We will let her record without Dr. Luke.' I don't understand your problem ... It's not in [the company's] best interest to not make money and not promote a recording artist.
Kesha was photographed in tears in the courtroom as the decision was being read, which resulted in an outpouring of support from fans and celebrities alike.
In response to the court's ruling, Dr. Luke's attorney Christine Lepera released a statement to The Rolling Stone:
The New York County Supreme Court on Friday found that Kesha is already "free" to record and release music without working with Dr. Luke as a producer if she doesn’t want to. Any claim that she isn’t "free" is a myth. The sound decision Friday by the Court in denying Kesha's motion for an injunction made it clear Kesha's allegations of purported abuse were unconvincing and that she had no basis to void record contracts and copyrights… The goal of Kesha's counsel throughout has been to obtain a more lucrative contract through a shameless campaign of outrageous claims they will never stand behind in a court of law.
As Dr. Luke has said repeatedly, the allegations against him are outright lies that have been advanced to extort a contract renegotiation and money. Kesha and her counsel have cavalierly subjected Dr. Luke and his family to trial by Twitter, using a vicious smear campaign to ruin his reputation for financial gain while failing to support their claims… It will further be shown that the incidents alleged never happened.
Additionally, at the time the allegations came to light in October 2014 — Kesha filed a lawsuit against Gottwald accusing him of sexual and verbal abuse — Gottwald to countersued Kesha in response, claiming it was a tactic on the singer's part to get out of her contract. As the complaint in his suit read, "As part of the effort to get out of the Gottwald Recording Agreement, Kesha and Pebe have also orchestrated a campaign of publishing false and shocking accusations against Gottwald to extort Plaintiffs into letting Kesha out of the Gottwald Recording Agreement."
Alternatively, Kesha’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, released a statement to Billboard denying this:
This lawsuit is a wholehearted effort by Kesha to regain control of her music career and her personal freedom after suffering for ten years as a victim of mental manipulation, emotional abuse and sexual assault at the hands of Dr. Luke. The facts presented in our lawsuit paint a picture of a man who is controlling and willing to commit horrible acts of abuse in an attempt to intimidate an impressionable, talented, young female artist into submission for his personal gain. Kesha is focused on moving her life and her career beyond this terrible time.
There's no word yet on how Kesha plans to move forward following the court's decision on Friday — but, at the very least, it seems the support of her fans will offer her strength in the months to come.
