Though a New York judge last week ruled that pop star Kesha could not escape her recording contract with Sony producer Dr. Luke, the man who Kesha has accused of drugging and raping her a decade ago, she has experienced an outpouring of support from the likes of Taylor Swift (who donated $250,000 to Kesha’s cause), Lady Gaga, and Kelly Clarkson.
For his part, Dr. Luke—whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald—has denied the charge and has accused Kesha (real name Kesha Rose Sebert) of making up the allegations of abuse in order to get out of her contract, which would allow her to record with other labels and producers.
On Monday, Gottwald took to Twitter to fire back at the accusations.
I didn’t rape Kesha and I have never had sex with her. Kesha and I were friends for many years and she was like my little sister.
— Dr. Luke Doctor Luke (@TheDoctorLuke) February 22, 2016
Gottwald also tweeted, “The only truly objective person who knows the facts is the judge. The judge did not rule in Kesha’s favor on Friday… I understand why people without all the information are speaking out. I can appreciate their compassion… But lives can get ruined when there’s a rush to judgment before all the facts come out. Look what happened at UVA, Duke etc… Of course any sane person is against rape and sexual assault but everybody who is commenting is doing so without knowledge or facts… They are getting behind an allegation only—motivated by money.”
Gottwald also tweeted a news article stating that Kesha had previously testified under oath that he had “never made sexual advances at me.”
— Dr. Luke Doctor Luke (@TheDoctorLuke) February 22, 2016
— Dr. Luke Doctor Luke (@TheDoctorLuke) February 22, 2016
Continued Gottwald on Twitter: “Imagine if you or somebody you loved was publicly accused of a rape you knew they didn’t do. Imagine that… I have 3 sisters, a daughter, and a son with my girlfriend, and a feminist mom who raised me right… Kesha and I made a lot of songs together and it was often good but there were creative differences at times… It’s sad that she would turn a contract negotiation into something so horrendous and untrue… But I feel confident when this is over the lies will be exposed and the truth will prevail.”
In a statement released earlier Monday, via Rolling Stone, Christine Lepera, Gottwald’s attorney, said, “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.”
Photo via Becky Sullivan/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)