A misogynistic mess? The Tragic Tale of Kesha and Dr. Luke
By Lynne Bell
As the mom of two young women, I have a slight memory of pop artist Kesha and one of her hits “TiK ToK.” My girls are now grown, and I no longer have household exposure to their playlists. However, even my middle-aged self caught wind of a very messy court case which recently came before the New York County Supreme Court and ended in defeat for Kesha--- and reignited a storm of comment, criticism, and controversy on social media sites, especially Twitter.
Kesha is now 28, but her career as a pop singer began when she was signed to producer Dr. Luke's (real name: Lukasz Gottwald) Kemosabe Records (now owned by Sony Entertainment) in 2005. In 2010, she released two recordings -“Animal” and “Cannibal”-which propelled her to number one on the charts and commercial success. The single “TiK ToK” sold over 14 million units internationally, making it one of the best-selling digital songs in history. And as far as Kesha's record sales, that record makes up just a small fraction of her sales success, not to mention the many worldwide awards she has earned, which are too numerous to list here.
However, at some point, the record-breaking, record-selling collaboration between Kesha and Dr. Luke went terribly wrong, and regardless of whom you believe, it seems that their sad story isn't over yet, since a judge has ruled that Kesha is bound to fulfill her recording contract with Sony, even though she maintains that Dr. Luke has: drugged, sexually abused her, and tormented her psychologically during the course of their professional pairing. Naturally, Dr. Luke vehemently denies Kesha's allegations and has tweeted: “The only truly objective person who knows the facts is the judge. The judge did not rule in Kesha's favour on Friday.”
The Twitter hashtag #FreeKesha is a real-time barometer of support for the singer---and disgust and displeasure regarding the judge's decision. Both fans and celebrity friends alike have tweeted their support for Kesha, with two producers offering to work with her and superstar Taylor Swift putting her money where her mouth is, by donating $250,000 to help cover Kesha's legal expenses.
But what really makes this tragic situation so controversially compelling is the spotlight it has shone on the music industry and the claims of rampant misogyny within it. Two examples cited in comparison to Kesha's request to be released from her recording contract are rapper Chris Brown and singer Zayn Malik, a former member of pop supergroup, One Direction. Although Brown records for RCA and One Direction is on Simon Cowell's Syco/Columbia roster, they were each allowed to make mistakes (in the case of Brown) and moves which: a) haven't hurt their careers or b) landed them in court, due to their desperation to be released from the entertainment world's corporate clutches.
Brown-a charmer if their ever was one- (mom sarcasm alert!) beat his girlfriend and seemingly never missed a beat in his career. Malik's decision to depart the money-spinning One Direction because he was unhappy might have displeased the band's young fans, but his decision to depart didn't remotely resemble Kesha's ordeal.
My cursory knowledge of the ins and outs of Kesha's case have set both my motherly protectiveness and my Spidey senses a-tingling. Whatever compelled this young woman to put herself before the court and risk her career, her personal and professional reputations, and her financial well-being, makes me think that at the very least, there is no way the artist/label relationship between Kesha and Sony can continue productively and at worst, that something is terribly, terribly toxic regarding the relationship between the artist, her producer and the record label.
Why Sony doesn't just cut Kesha loose, I don't know, but this case is bringing forth some important questions-not just about the treatment of women in the entertainment industry, but increasingly, within the American justice system as a whole.
A murky pool to wade into
By Kelly Running
Recently in pop culture news a story developed as singer/songwriter Kesha claimed that she was sexually assaulted and verbally abused by producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald. She has said that Dr. Luke mentally abused her to the point of entering rehab for an eating disorder, while she’s also stated that she was drugged and raped, then expected to continue working with him.
Dr. Luke denies the claims and has countered with a defamation lawsuit against Kesha and her mother.
Their professional relationship developed when Kesha was 17-years-old when she was “discovered” and she was signed at 18-years-old as a songwriter and performer. Apparently Dr. Luke convinced the young girl to drop out of school in Nashville and move to Los Angeles where she signed a six album record deal at Dr. Luke’s discretion – she has only released two since being signed in 2005.
In 2014 she would file a lawsuit claiming sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, civil harassment, unfair business, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress according to Forbes magazine. All of which she endured to pursue her music, while being allegedly being intimidated by Dr. Luke. He has in turn countersued for defamation.
In 2015 Kesha filed for an injunction requesting to end or change her Sony contract, in order to continue working, but to avoid working with Dr. Luke. This is where it makes the news this year, her injunction was recently denied by the court on the grounds that Sony will allow Kesha to record outside of Kemosabe Records.
So, why does this matter? Well, how can a contract, whether the allegations happened or not, keep somebody in a situation where they are clearly unhappy? Whether she or Dr. Luke are telling the truth, she is in a position where she doesn’t want to be. The whole situation makes me wonder, despite a contract, why Sony and Dr. Luke are hanging onto her and her contract so tightly. If someone has been pushed to the point of breaking, which rehab and filing a lawsuit points to in my opinion, then why not release them from their contract? Cut your losses in a sense on the side of the label. After all Zayn Malik of One Direction left his contract for being unhappy, by buying it out. Which fans have created a Kickstarter for Kesha to do this.
In court Dr. Luke’s lawyer argued that Dr. Luke put $60 million into her career and because he has agreed to allow her to record without his involvement, the judge decided to do the “commercially reasonable thing,” according to the Hollywood Reporter… which points to the almighty dollar sign involved in the music industry.
This situation, regardless of who is telling the truth – although I must say it is hard to deny the distraught photos of Kesha sobbing in court when the judge denied the injunction, while other artists who have worked with Dr. Luke are tweeting support to Kesha which makes me wonder – simply points to the ridiculousness of the music industry, the intricacies of legalities and contracts, as well as misogynistic concerns in the industry. This story from the outside looks as though a young girl literally sold her life to the record company at 18-years-old without really knowing what it meant.
It seems like the industry takes advantage of young people with dreams and then trap them within their contract.
There was a different artist a few years ago that had signed a contract with a record company, recorded music, and was then let go when the head of the label shifted to a different company. The label she had signed with let about a third of their artists go and the music she had recorded with them was shelved. It was theirs and they were no longer releasing the album. She’s since gone on to be an independent artist releasing music by fundraising through the crowd fund site, Kickstarter.
Ultimately the music industry seems like murky water to wade into and being a pop star isn’t everything people often think it’s cracked up to be.
