Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic, Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagicDr. Luke is demanding Kesha's medical records to try to disprove her claim that he committed sexual assault and battery against her.
The 29-year-old pop singer had made her claims in a 2014 lawsuit against the 42-year-old music producer, who had worked with her in the past, and is also seeking to invalidate her recording contracts with him. Dr. Luke, 42, has said he "didn't rape Kesha" and "have never had sex with her" and had also filed a countersuit.
Attorneys for both her and Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, said in letter to a judge filed at a New York City court this week that they are requesting a resolution for a dispute regarding Kesha's "assertion of the physician-patient and therapist-patient privileges." Under federal law, a health care provider or health plan covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 may share protected health information if it has a court order.
Luke's attorneys cite Kesha's claim in her 2014 lawsuit, which was filed in California, that "the continuous and ongoing years of sexual, physical, verbal, and emotional abuse and harassment at the hands of Dr. Luke" "took their toll" on her and that she was "forced to seek emergency medical help" and entered a rehabilitation treatment center in Illinois in January 2014.
"[Luke] should be permitted discovery regarding [Kesha]'s abuse allegations, including her specific contentions that such abuse caused her to seek medical treatment and enter rehab," the music producer's attorneys say in their recent letter.
In January 2014, Kesha underwent rehab for two months to treat an eating disorder.
In her lawsuit, her attorneys had stated her doctors found she "suffered from psychological effects caused by Dr. Luke's abuse, including severe depression, post-traumatic stress, social isolation, and panic attacks," that she was "constantly reminded of the abuse by having to continue to be around Dr. Luke and his unrelenting emotional and psychological abuse" and that he "had physically and psychologically damaged" her "to the point where continuing such contact would be 'life threatening.'"
Luke's attorneys say Kesha "has unambiguously waived any physician-patient or therapist-patient privileges she may have had through her affirmative actions and allegations.". Kesha's lawyers write that she "has not waived any privileges...which prevent discovery of medical records reflecting her physical and mental health" that because she "believes this issue to be of critical importance to the case," she is asking for a briefing schedule to hear an oral argument on the issue.
If her position were "accepted," the attorneys continue, "any rape victim could have her therapist privilege waived if she told any other individual that she had been raped and gone to therapy as a result. The therapist-patient privilege protects a person's innermost thoughts and feelings; the Court should not accept [Luke's] invitation to rule that [Kesha] has somehow waived those privileges without a thorough examination of the issue."
In February, a judge denied Kesha's request for a preliminary injunction that would have allowed her to release music outside of Dr. Luke's authority and also cited the lack of medical evidence, such as hospital records, to confirm Kesha's assault allegations.
However, Sony had said it allows Kesha to resume her recording career without having to work with Luke. She and Zedd recently released a new version of his 2015 track "True Colors." The DJ said Luke's Kemosabe records had given them permission to release the song, to which the music producer responded, "Thanks for the clarification @Zedd ..."