Weekly News Update 17

My story this week comes from the Guardian, and it is about world famous pop star Kesha. My story tells of Kesha’s long battle to be freed of working with producer at the Sony record label Dr Luke (Lukasz Gottwald).

Kesha has claimed Dr Luke forced her to take drugs, took credit for her songs, caused her eating disorder, and raped her. On one occasion, the lawsuit reports, “Ms Sebert took the pills and woke up the following afternoon, naked in Dr Luke’s bed, sore and sick, with no memory of how she got there.” She called her mum, telling her, “Dr Luke had raped her, and that she needed to go to the emergency room.” On Twitter, a fan has unearthed a deleted post by Dr Luke from 2009, a candid close-up of Kesha sleeping. “Damn my artists work hard!!!!!!!!” he’d added. Kesha has made it public on Facebook about what is going on, and has said that all she wants to do is to be able to make music freely without fear or anxiety.

The week before last, Kesha lost the first part of her case. She remains Dr Luke’s creative property. Now 28, she is contracted to make four more albums with the man she has accused of raping her at 18, after stating: “I know I cannot work with Dr Luke. I physically cannot. I don’t feel safe in any way.” There was no sufficient evidence found to support that Dr Luke harmed Kesha, meaning the court denied rights for Kesha to terminate her contract and record with another record label.

In my opinion, I feel strongly that Kesha should be allowed to terminate her contract. This is because from her statements it is very obvious she is frightened and terrified of this man and that she can produce her best work if he is still in control of her music. I understand that it has not been cleared by the court that Dr Luke definitely performed these actions; I find it difficult to think that Kesha would lie as this is a very serious matter. I also find it endearing how other pop stars such as Adele and Taylor Swift have public ably stated that they are supporting Kesha.