Another decision has been made in Kesha‘s ongoing court case against Dr. Luke, real name Lukasz Gottwald, with the singer ordered to pay the producer $373,000. The order was made as part of a ruling against Kesha in Gottwald’s defamation lawsuit against the 32-year-old.
According to court documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter ruled that Kesha defamed Gottwald when she texted Lady Gaga in 2016 claiming that Gottwald had raped Katy Perry. In a 2017 deposition, Perry denied ever being sexually assaulted by the producer, which the judge cited in her decision.
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“There is no evidence whatsoever that [Gottwald] raped Katy Perry. Moreover, publication of a false statement to even one person, here Lady Gaga, is sufficient to impose liability,” Judge Schecter ruled.
In addition, the judge rejected numerous defenses by Kesha including the claim that Gottwald is a “public figure,” which would have required the producer’s lawyers to prove that Kesha acted with “malice” when she texted Lady Gaga. The payment Kesha is ordered to make is in interest on royalty payments she withheld from Gottwald’s record company, KMI, putting her in breach of her contract.
“Judge Schecter issued rulings today on motions for summary judgment in the Dr. Luke litigation,” Kesha’s legal team said in a statement. “We disagree with the Court’s rulings. We plan to immediately appeal.”
Gottwald’s legal team said in a statement, “Dr. Luke is pursuing this lawsuit to seek recovery for the serious harm Kesha’s false accusations of rape have caused Dr. Luke, his family and his business. Today’s important decision by the Court in Dr. Luke’s lawsuit brings him closer to the justice that he seeks.”
“First, the Court has now ruled that Kesha made a false and defamatory accusation about Dr. Luke when she baselessly claimed that he raped Katy Perry. Second, the Court rejected Kesha’s attempts to invoke legal technicalities to avoid responsibility for her statements. And third, the Court also correctly held that Kesha breached her contract with Dr. Luke’s company,” the statement continued. “Dr. Luke looks forward to the trial of his case where he will prove that Kesha’s other false statements about him were equally false and defamatory.”
Kesha began working with Gottwald in 2005, when she was 18. In 2014, Kesha sued Gottwald and claimed that he drugged and raped her, and Gottwald countersued for defamation. The defamation suit will now move to trial and a jury will be asked to determine whether Kesha’s original allegations against Gottwald were made “in good faith,” or if they were made to obtain business leverage over the producer through defamation.
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