Dr. Luke Files Mirror Lawsuit Against Kesha’s Mom for Defamation
Producer Dr. Luke has filed a lawsuit against Pebe Sebert, mother of pop star Kesha, accusing her of defamation and “tortious interference” with her daughter’s contract. The suit is a parallel complaint to the one the producer, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, filed earlier this month, which came after Kesha sued him with allegations of sexual assault and battery. The purpose of the new suit is to decide the territory where Sebert would be sued.
Gottwald’s other complaint, which also named Kesha and her manager, was filed in New York. This suit would go to court in Tennessee, where Sebert does business, and has been filed as a precautionary measure in the event that she is able to have the New York suit dismissed by claiming she does not live there. If Sebert does not make that claim, and the New York suit goes forward, Gottwald’s attorney would withdraw the new one. The suit is virtually identical to the one filed in New York , but omits another count that references Kesha and her contract with Gottwald.
A representative for Dr. Luke declined to comment. A representative for Kesha did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
As with the other suit, the new one claims that Sebert has “discussed the prospect” of breaking the exclusive recording contract Kesha had signed with Gottwald with her daughter. Gottwald claims that because of this, Kesha has refused to offer Gottwald her recordings and will not allow him to produce her work.
It also contends that Sebert and her daughter have engaged in spreading “false and shocking accusations” against the producer and that Sebert emailed Gottwald’s lawyer claiming the producer had “abused Kesha, both physically and mentally” and that “Luke date-raped Kesha when she was 18.” Additionally, the lawsuit accuses Sebert of sending this info to a blogger who started a “Free Kesha” website. Elsewhere, the document cites testimony Kesha gave in 2011 saying she had never had any kind of sexual relationship with Gottwald.
Since the producer claims Kesha’s accusations are false, he alleges that Sebert’s only goal was defamation. He says she threatened to make further accusations against him unless he let her out of the contract.