Sony Has Reportedly Cut All Ties With Dr. Luke After Kesha Dispute

Sony has officially parted ways with Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald) following the producer’s legal dispute with pop superstar Ke$ha. Sony, Dr. Luke, and Kesha’s reps have not yet commented. However, court documents do confirm that Lukasz Gottwald is no longer the CEO of Kemosabe Records, a label established by Sony and Dr. Luke in 2011. Sony asserts that Dr. Luke will no longer be able to act on it’s behalf. Dr. Luke has worked with many of artists on writing dozens of smash hits such as Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone,” Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” and Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball,” and many of others.

Kesha accused Gottwald of rape back in October 2014, which still have been an ongoing legal dispute. Kesha has claimed that Dr. Luke forced her to take a drug (date-rape) and then proceeded to take advantage of her in a hotel room. She has also claimed that Dr. Luke had utilized “suffocating control” over her life for the past decade, bombarding her with insults about her looks and denying her meaningful profits from her work, which included the multiplatinum single “Tik Tok.” Since then Dr. Luke has filed his own case against Kesha stating she defamed his character, and attempted to extradite herself from record and publishing contracts as extortion. The “Free Kesha” campaign launch and went viral throughout Kesha fans social media as well as other artists who have worked with Gottwald supporting Kesha which raised the profile of her claims.

On Feb. 19, 2016, New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich ruled against Kesha’s request to leave Kemosabe Records (Sony). Kornreich Then rejected her claims against Dr. Luke on April 6th of that year as well. Kesha submitted a notice of appeal last week concerning California’s seven-year limit on personal service contracts. According to one source “the two sides are in the midst of negotiating a split,” and the page devoted to Dr. Luke on Sony Music’s website has been taken down.

via The Hollywood Reporter