Kesha Ordered To Pay $373,000 In Dr. Luke Defamation Lawsuit

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Judge Orders Kesha To Pay Dr. Luke $373K

After years of fighting, Kesha has been ordered to pay $373,000 to her former producer, Dr. Luke.

Court documents from the ongoing legal battle reveal that New York State Supreme Court Judge Jennifer G. Schecter made the ruling on Thursday, saying that a text message the musician sent to Lady Gaga back in 2016 qualified as defamation. In the message, Kesha claimed that Dr. Luke had raped Katy Perry.

“There is no evidence whatsoever that [Dr. Luke] raped Katy Perry. Moreover, publication of a false statement to even one person, here Lady Gaga, is sufficient to impose liability,” Schecter said. Perry denied that such sexual assault against her ever took place in a 2017 deposition.

While Kesha’s legal team tried to argue that Dr. Luke is a “public figure,” Judge Schecter rejected that, saying the producer “certainly is not a ‘general public figure,'” and he “has never been a household name or achieved general pervasive fame and notoriety in the community.” Schecter added that because of this, “actual malice standard is inapplicable.”

“Though Gottwald has sought publicity for his label, his music, and his artists—none of which are the subject of the defamation here—he never injected himself into the public debate about sexual assault or abuse of artists in the entertainment industry,” Schecter added. “The only reason Gottwald has any public connection to the issues raised in this lawsuit is because they were raised in this lawsuit.”