Much of the ongoing legal battle between Kesha and Dr. Luke depends on the singer’s freedom — or perceived freedom — to record outside of the producer’s involvement. According to Dr. Luke, “any claim that she isn’t free is a myth.†According to Kesha’s lawyers, the fact that Sony keeps the singer under contract with the producer, whom she claims has sexually assaulted her in the past, is a form of slavery, as she must continue to work with his companies or do irreperable harm to her career. To that point, in an Instagram post today, Kesha wrote that she had been “offered my freedom†(mostly likely from her contract with Dr. Luke and Sony), but only if she took back her sexual-assault claims against the producer. Kesha says she found the alleged suggestion disgusting: “I would have to APOLOGIZE publicly and say that I never got raped. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS behind closed doors. I will not take back the TRUTH. I would rather let the truth ruin my career than lie for a monster ever again.â€
According to an unnamed Rolling Stone source, a deal like the one Kesha describes came up in discussions between the singer’s team and Dr. Luke’s “a few months ago,†though the details and seriousness of the offer are not clear. Dr. Luke’s camp has responded to the singer’s Instagram post with the following statement:
The Court repeatedly stated Kesha is already free to record without Dr. Luke, and that she had not presented any facts supporting her claims. That’s because all the evidence — including Kesha’s own videotaped sworn testimony — show her allegations are false. The only thing Kesha is not free to do is to continue to lie about Dr. Luke through publicity stunts and outrageous smears, ignoring the fact that by her own free will she went to work and entered into new contracts with Dr. Luke years after this ‘incident’ supposedly happened. Her goal all along has been solely personal enrichment by seeking to break contracts that brought her success and millions so she can enter into more lucrative ones. We look forward to our day in court holding Kesha accountable for her lies.