As music producer Dr. Luke wages on in his defamation lawsuit against Kesha, court documents show that Katy Perry denied that Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lucasz Gottwald, ever sexually assaulted her.
In a partially unsealed deposition obtained by E! News, an attorney asked Perry, “Did Dr. Luke ever rape you?” to which she replied, “No.”
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When asked, “Did Dr. Luke ever sexually assault you?” Perry said, “Absolutely not.”
The “Bon Appetit” singer also denied ever having a sexual or romantic relationship with Dr. Luke, who has collaborated with Perry on many of her hits, like “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl” and “California Gurls.”
E! News reports that Perry fought to have her deposition sealed as Dr. Luke’s lawsuit against Kesha continues. Perry was brought into the lawsuit in the first place by Dr. Luke’s lawyers after Kesha texted Lady Gaga about an alleged incident involving Dr. Luke and Perry. Dr. Luke’s attorneys said that Kesha told Gaga that Perry was “raped by the same man,” referring to Dr. Luke, with the information reportedly coming from CEO of Interscope Records John Janick because of a rumor he had heard.
In her deposition, Perry said she never told Janick about the alleged rape and that “it’s not true.”
After an excerpt of the transcripts was released, a representative for Janick told Variety that “Janick was simply a bystander to a conversation; not a participant in it. Although John is not a party to this litigation, he voluntarily provided factual responses to questions from both sides’ attorneys.”
Dr. Luke’s team issued a subpoena to Gaga in 2017, with his lawyers telling E! that “Dr. Luke’s counsel served a subpoena on Lady Gaga because she has relevant information regarding, among other things, false statements about Dr. Luke made to her by Kesha.”
Gaga has not commented about the texts, although artists like Pink and Avril Lavigne, who have also worked with Dr. Luke, defended her from his claims.
Dr. Luke’s defamation lawsuit is part of a bitter legal battle between him and Kesha, who sued Dr. Luke in 2014 for sexual assault and battery. The producer denied the claims, writing on Twitter in 2016, “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.”
After he filed counter suit for defamation, Kesha’s lawyers called it “meritless,” while Dr. Luke’s attorneys argued it held value because “Katy Perry herself confirmed that Dr. Luke did not rape her.”
As a result, Dr. Luke’s lawyers frame the lawsuit as a revenge plot by Kesha, who they say disagreed with him over contract negotiations.
“When Dr. Luke did not agree to her contract terms, Kesha maliciously plotted to destroy Dr. Luke’s business and reputation to pressure him to give in,” read a statement from Dr. Luke’s team to E! News. His legal team also reportedly provided emails from Kesha’s manager who, according to the statement, “discussed in emails their ‘jihad’ to ‘ruin’ Dr. Luke ‘in the press’ and ‘take down his business.’”
Kesha’s counsel, on the other hand, contends that “Dr. Luke’s litigation strategy has been straight out of the blame-the-victim playbook, intending to humiliate and intimidate Kesha into issuing a retraction of her statements.”
“Kesha has never claimed to have any independent knowledge of any alleged assault of Katy Perry (which Ms. Perry has denied in a later deposition),” Kesha’s team said.
