Kesha Scores Major Victory in Legal Battle Against Producer Dr. Luke

Kesha scored her biggest legal victory yet on Wednesday in the seven-year-long legal battle over whether she defamed Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald by publicly accusing the producer of rape. That ruling means that when the case goes to trial — perhaps later this year — Dr. Luke will have to prove evidence of actual malice on the singer's part, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It also means that Kesha will be allowed to seek damages and attorneys' fees.

New York Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter ruled that the state's recently enacted SLAPP statute — that was passed last year to protect free speech from frivolous lawsuits — applies in Kesha's long-running case. After Schecter previously ruled that Dr. Luke is not a public figure, Kesha's attorneys argued that Dr. Luke must demonstrate that Kesha "had knowledge of falsity or recklessly disregarded the truth" when she alleged that she had been drugged and raped by Dr. Luke.

An attorney for the star producer said in a statement that Wednesday's hearing "was only about a technical legal issue: the burden of proof at trial. Dr. Luke would have filed this case regardless of the burden of proof." The attorney said that "Dr. Luke will prove to the jury, as he has always maintained, that Kesha spread a vicious lie to get out of her contracts." The attorney argued that "Kesha refuses to make any claim against Luke that she would have the burden of proof on — because she knows she would lose and that she is lying."

The development comes more than a year after Schecter ruled in February 2020 that Kesha did defame Dr. Luke when she claimed in a text message to Lady Gaga that he had also allegedly raped Katy Perry. The judge said that although Dr. Luke has sought publicity for his record label, music and artists, "he never injected himself into the public debate about sexual assault or abuse of artists in the entertainment industry."

At that time, Kesha was ordered to pay $373,671.88 in interest on a more than $1.3 million royals payment she made to Dr. Luke's record label, KMI, in August 2017. Her legal team said in a statement at the time that they disagreed with Schecter's issued rulings and planned to "immediately appeal."