Update!

Kesha Suing Producer Dr. Luke for Sexual Assault and Battery, Claims He Drugged Her and Called Her Fat

Singer's lawsuit details shocking allegations against her former mentor

By Claudia Rosenbaum, Brett Malec Oct 14, 2014 6:44 PMTags
Kesha, Dr. Luke, Lukasz GottwaldEthan Miller/Michael Kovac/Getty Images for City of Hope

UPDATE: In response to Kesha's lawsuit, Dr. Luke (real name Lukasz Gottwald) filed his own lawsuit against the singer, her mother Pebe and her newly hired management company Vector Management. He claims the singer's allegations are "defamatory" and untrue and accuses Pebe of defamation and her, Kesha's management company and manager, Jack Rovner, of tortious interference with contractual relationships.

Additionally, Luke's attorney Christine Lepera tells E! News in a statement, "As set forth in the complaint that we have filed on behalf of Dr. Luke, Kesha and her mother are engaged in a campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements about Dr. Luke to third parties, including scurrilous and false statements of purported physical and mental abuse of Kesha. These are allegations that Kesha and Pebe have themselves admitted are false. The complaint explains that Kesha and her mother Pebe have wielded these defamatory statements in an attempt to extort Gottwald into releasing Kesha from her exclusive recording agreement with Dr. Luke. We understand that Kesha has filed a lawsuit of her own against Dr. Luke, though we have not yet seen it. Undoubtedly, Kesha's lawsuit is nothing more than a continuation of her bad and offensive acts. We are confident that Dr. Luke will prevail in all matters, and that our client will be awarded substantial damages for this malicious conduct."

Geragos subsequently responded to Luke's suit, telling E! News, "This is just another pathetic and entirely predictable example of Dr. Luke's continued abuse, and a misguided attempt to keep Kesha under his tyrannical control. This lawsuit has absolutely no basis in fact, the law or reality. Kesha is focused on reclaiming her voice and her freedom. She is determined to move on with her life and her career by putting this dark period behind her."

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Kesha is suing her former mentor, record producer Dr. Luke, over a bevy of allegations, including sexual assault and battery.

According to court docs obtained by E! News, the "Timber" singer is suing Luke—along with his companies Kasz Money, Precription Songs, Where Da Kasz At? and Kemosabe Records—for sexual assault, sexual harassment, gender violence, civil harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other causes of action.

In her lawsuit, Kesha claims Luke persuaded her to drop out of high school, leave her family behind in Nashville and to move to Los Angeles to start her music career. "For the past ten years, Dr. Luke has sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused [her] to the point where [she] nearly lost her life," the lawsuit states. "Dr. Luke abused [her] in order to destroy her self-confidence, self-image, and self-worth so that he could maintain complete control over her life and career." The papers state that this conduct has put the 27-year-old pop star's life at risk.

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Kesha (real name Kesha Rose Sebert) also alleges in her lawsuit that one time Luke forced her to snort an illicit drug before she got on the plane and, during the flight, he forced himself on her while she was in such an intoxicated state that she threw up. Kesha details another occasion where Dr. Luke allegedly forced her to take what he described as "sober pills" in order for her to sober up. After taking the pills, she woke up the next afternoon naked in Dr. Luke's bed sore and sick. She later learned the sober pills where actually a form of the drug GHB. After the incident, Dr. Luke threatened Kesha in order to keep the whole thing a secret, according to the docs.

Kesha's lawsuit goes on to state that Dr. Luke would repeatedly belittle her to shatter her self-confidence, saying "you are not that pretty and you are not talented, you are just lucky to have me." He also attacked her weight and called her a "fat f--king refrigerator." Kesha says the abuse caused her to suffer from bulimia for which she later entered treatment for.

Kesha is suing for damages, including an injunction to void her current recording agreement with Dr. Luke and his company Kasz Money.

After filing the lawsuit, Kesha's lawyer Mark Geragos told E! News, "This lawsuit is a wholehearted effort by Kesha to regain control of her music career and her personal freedom after suffering for ten years as a victim of mental manipulation, emotional abuse and sexual assault at the hands of Dr. Luke. The facts presented in our lawsuit paint a picture of a man who is controlling and willing to commit horrible acts of abuse in an attempt to intimidate an impressionable, talented, young female artist into submission for his personal gain. Kesha is focused on moving her life and her career beyond this terrible time."