Kesha Accused Dr. Luke of Raping Katy Perry

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Jun 13, 2018

A new development in the ongoing legal battle between Kesha and Dr. Luke has revealed that the pop star accused her former producer and alleged abuser of raping Katy Perry in a text message to Lady Gaga.

As Variety reports [via The Blast], court documents filed in New York contain Dr. Luke's (born Lukas Gottwald) denial of three claims made against him by Kesha: that Gottwald had given her drugs against her will, that Gottwald had raped Kesha, and the previously undisclosed claim that Gottwald had raped Perry.

Variety notes that the documents read in part: "On February 26, 2016 [Kesha] sent a text message to Stefani Germanotta p/k/a/ Lady Gaga which repeated [Kesha's] false claim that [Luke] had raped her."

The documents continue: "[Kesha] also falsely asserted that [Luke] had also raped Kathryn Hudson p/k/a/ Katy Perry," adding, "Following this text message conversation, and with [Kesha's] encouragement, [Gaga] spread negative messages about [Luke] in the press and on social media."

The existence of the text message was confirmed in August of last year, when Lady Gaga was subpoenaed in July by Gottwald's representatives, claiming Gaga had "relevant information regarding, among other things, false statements about Dr. Luke made to her by Kesha."

Variety reports that the documents show Perry has been deposed as part of the lawsuit, though it was not indicated what she had said. Perry has never publicly accused Gottwald of rape.

The latest news in Kesha's legal battle follows a New York appeals court ruling to uphold the 2017 denial of her attempt to exit her contract with Gottwald late last month. Gottwald is seeking $50 million USD in his defamation suit against the singer.

The relevant court documents can be viewed below, with the rape claim appearing on page 14.

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