Dr. Luke has dropped a defamation suit against Kesha's mom, Pebe Sebert.
The music producer, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, and Sebert made a joint statement together on Friday:
"Dr. Luke vigorously disputes and denies that he ever raped Kesha Sebert, and he is asserting claims of defamation in a New York court against Kesha Sebert for making statements to the contrary, which statements Dr. Luke adamantly maintains are false.
Pebe admits she has no firsthand personal knowledge of the events occurring on the night of the alleged rape. Pebe was not present that night. At that time, Pebe was in Nashville, and Kesha was in Los Angeles. The dispute between Kesha and Dr. Luke about the events of that night is the subject of the New York case, and will be decided in that case. Accordingly, all parties believe it is appropriate to dismiss this Tennessee case and focus their attention on the New York case."
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
In a statement given to People magazine in September 2016, Dr. Luke's lawyer, Christine Lepera, said that the complaint was the result Sebert’s “outrageous, false, and defamatory statements against Dr. Luke in her widespread media campaign to damage and smear his name.”
The producer still has an ongoing lawsuit against Kesha in New York for breach of contract, where the singer's request to be released from said contract has already been denied.
"Here, Kesha made no showing that it would have been futile to send an appropriate notice or that she was prevented from doing so," New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich wrote in her opinion in March. "Thus, Kesha may not assert a counterclaim for breach of the Prescription Agreement."
In April, Sony cut ties with Dr. Luke, although exactly what that will mean for Kesha's career going forward remains murky.
At SXSW earlier this year, the singer led a panel discussion with Refinery29's Amy Emmerich, where she said that she was working on new music, but also on her own well being in the aftermath of her traumatic experience. “It's empowering to sit with my imperfections and be real and vulnerable. In truth, there's real power,” she said. “I used to nitpick everything and it was fucking exhausting. Now I'm feelin' myself."