• The singer has been in an ongoing legal battle with producer Dr. Luke, after she accused him of sexual assault and battery. • Her fans started a petition to "tell Sony not to force her to work with her alleged abuser."
According to the 2014 filing obtained by TMZ, Kesha claimed that Gottwald made sexual advances toward her, plied her with drugs and alcohol and repeatedly sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused her for 10 years. Kesha later amended her complaint to include Sony, claiming that Gottwald's "proclivity for abusive conduct was open and obvious [to Sony] executives, who either knew of the conduct and turned a blind eye, failed to investigate Dr. Luke's conduct, failed to take any corrective action or actively concealed Dr. Luke's abuse." The amended complaint further claimed that Sony placed Kesha and other female artists in "physical danger."
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Gottwald responded to Kesha's allegations with a countersuit, saying that the singer was trying to break her contract with his production company. Kesha is currently unable to produce any music unless she works with Gottwald, who's record label, Kemosabe Records, is a part of Sony. Kesha has yet to release any new music since her 2013 hit with Pitbull, "Timber."
On Friday, a judge denied her injunction to record outside of Sony, ruling that she can still work with another producer for the label. The decision came after the judge shot down her lawyer's claims that Sony was "setting her up to fail" and won't promote her music should she work with someone aside from Gottwald.
Under her contract, Kesha is obligated to make three more records with Gottwald's label. While Sony has offered to let her work with a different producer, her attorney Mark Geragos told The Huffington Post it remains unclear if any new music will be released under another Sony imprint.
Geragos called Sony’s offer to work with other producers a “small step,” though they wanted “complete separation from Luke. So we're going to move forward and we're going to get her that. She doesn't have to be victimized repeatedly by this guy."
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Chrstine Lepera, Gottwald's attorney, released a statement to The Huffington Post.
We are pleased with the Court's decision from the bench fully denying Ms. Sebert’s motion for a preliminary injunction. As the Court recognized, Ms. Sebert has always had the ability to proceed with her career if she so chooses. We remain confident that when all the facts are presented that Ms. Sebert’s allegations against Luke will be shown to be completely false and were asserted solely to extort money and gain contractual leverage.
#Kesha's lawyer says even w/ new Sony offer, "they're setting her up to fail" bc they won't promote her music. Says Sony sided w/ Dr Luke.
Despite the ruling on Friday, the singer had a small victory earlier this month when a judge dismissed Gottwald's suit against Kesha, her manager Jack Rovner and her mother Pebe Sebert.
Kesha's fans started a petition called "Free Kesha," which urged people to sign and send a message to "tell Sony not to force her to work with her alleged abuser." So far, the petition has more than 118,000 signatures.
Note: The Huffington Post reached out to those involved. This post has been updated to include additional information about Kesha's lawsuit against Gottwald and Sony, as well as comment from both Kesha's and Gottwald's lawyers.
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