Dr. Luke Is Reportedly Fired, But Still Has Ties With Sony Records

Sony Music has reportedly ended its partnership with producer Dr. Luke. According to the Hollywood Reporter. Lukasz Gottwald, who was accused of sexual assault by Ke$ha, is no longer CEO of Kemosabe Records.

Last week, Kesha filed a notice of appeal on a nixed bid to impose California’s seven-year limit on personal service contracts — marking the third pending appeal in this Kesha-Luke dispute before a New York appeals court.

In 2014, Kesha filed a lawsuit against Gottwald alleging that he had “sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused” her for the past decade. The suit, according to Rolling Stone, also accused Gottwald of “making sexual advances” toward her from the time she inked a contract with him at the age of 18.

Kesha’s attorney Mark Geragos told Rolling Stone the suit was a “wholehearted effort” by the artist to take back control of her career after a decade of “mental manipulation.”

Dr. Luke filed his own defamation claim against Kesha and framed her attempt to extradite herself from record and publishing contracts as extortion. In a statement to PEOPLE, Christine Lepera, Luke’s lawyer added: “Kesha’s new proposed counterclaim simply repeats the meritless and untrue allegations that were set forth in her earlier pleadings and which Dr. Luke fully disputes.”

 

A New York judge rejected Kesha’s attempt at an injunction so that she could work away from the auspices of Dr. Luke, then threw out her “hate crime” counterclaims, then denied her a second attempt at counterclaims premised on an alleged breach of contract.

Although Dr. Luke is said tobe fired, he still has a relationship with Sony Records according to Variety. “Sony still has a relationship with Dr. Luke,” says a source, referring to production contracts that remain in place. What is over, however, is Dr. Luke’s role as CEO of the label Kemosabe Records, the label he founded which came under the Sony umbrella in 2011 and expired at the end of March 2017. Court documents revealed as much on April 25.

“I was taking back my strength, and I was taking back my voice, and taking back my power, taking back my body,” Kesha said in a separate interview with the New York Times in October. “I’m just taking back my [expletive] life.”