Singer Kesha and her former producer Dr. Luke issued joint statements Thursday announcing a settlement in his defamation suit over her allegation that he raped her.
Kesha sued him in 2014 in Los Angeles and New York, alleging that he drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2005, as well as physically and verbally tormented her for a decade.
Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, then sued her for defamation. He accused her of having fabricated allegations she was raped to get out of her recording contract.
Kesha’s New York lawsuit was dismissed in April 2016 for jurisdiction and statute-of-limitation issues. Months later, her attorney told Rolling Stone that the California suit was dropped in the hope that Kesha could return to making music.
Gottwald, who has not been charged with a crime, has denied all of Kesha’s allegations. He won his civil case in 2020, when a judge ruled that she defamed him in her court filings, on social media and in a private message to singer Lady Gaga.
Kesha appealed the verdict, and the New York Court of Appeals ruled in her favor this month. The court’s opinion said that Gottwald is a public figure and that he must meet a higher burden of proof that Kesha acted with “actual malice” when she made her statements.
The ruling also said Kesha should have been allowed to file a counterclaim.
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