Judges Rules Kesha Defamed Dr. Luke With A Text About Katy Perry
Kesha’s assault case against producer Dr. Luke (Gottwald) was dealt a blow when a judge ruled a text to Lady Gaga about Katy Perry was a lie. This legal battle has been going on since Dr. Luke sued Kesha in 2014 for defamation after she accused him of drugging and raping her.
Dr. Luke claims that Kesha made up the accusation in order to get out of her recording contract. A judge ruled on Thursday that Kesha defamed Dr. Luke when she claimed in a text message to Lady Gaga that the producer had also raped Katy Perry.
The evidence that it was a lie was that Katy Perry testified that never happened. “Perry unequivocally testified that Gottwald did not [rape her]. In response, Kesha has not raised a triable issue. There is no evidence whatsoever that Gottwald raped Katy Perry, or that Katy Perry, whose sworn testimony is unrefuted, must not be believed.”
Further, the ruling found that Dr. Luke is not a public figure, which had been one of Kesha’s defenses in the suit.
So that means Kesha has to pay $373,671.88 in interest on a more than $1.3 million royalty payment she made to Dr. Luke’s KMI in August 2017. Her legal team says they’ll appeal.
