Bad News for Kesha's Court Case

Kesha's ongoing legal battle received a huge blow yesterday, when a New York Supreme Court Justice dismissed all but one of Kesha's counterclaims against Dr Luke (Lukasz Gottswald). The counter-claims were made in another attempt to free Kesha from her contract with Sony, and stated that both Sony and Gottswald have violated the New York State Human Rights Law by exposing her to sexual harassment and "gender-motivated violence", which can be qualified as a hate crime.

The Judge, Shirley Kornreich, disagreed, writing that "every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime" in her decision, a hugely offensive statement that I'll get back to later.

The truth is, Kesha's claims have been dismissed purely based on technicalities; one of the main reasons that that any abuses that happened were "outside New York and beyond the legal limit." Kornreich also declared that Gottswald's emotional abuse didn't reach a high enough level of "emotional distress".

It's a pretty well-known fact that victims of rape and sexual abuse are often slow to come forward, and it's largely due to their stories being dismissed or used against them so often, something we're seeing being played out in the public eye with Kesha right now.

To further prove the point of this case being dismissed purely on technicalities, Kornreich also acknowledged the reasons Kesha kept quiet for so long, but admitted these were irrelevant under the law.

Back to Kornreich's statement of "every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime", a statement that shows just how dismissive the law is when it comes to rape. The suggestion here is that there are degrees of rape, and that for for them to be taken seriously, they must adhere to strict legalities. Kesha's claims of being assaulted on a airplane and raped in a hotel room in 2008 do meet the legal standard of "physical violence", but were dismissed due to the five-year statute of limitations.

Kesha's lawyer has called this a "first-if-its-kind case" which, in some ways, is very true. But, as I've said in my previous posts about this case, there are so many ways that this case isn't unique. We've seen these themes play out so many times in sexual assault cases. Crimes of this nature are taking place every day and, as Kesha said herself on Facebook "unfortunately I don't think my case is giving people who have been abused confidence that they can speak out, and that's a problem."

#FreeKesha

Kesha's legal battle with Sony seems to finally be getting the attention it deserves (if you need to catch up, I wrote about the situation here). Unfortunately, it's not for the best of reasons; a New York judge has ruled that Kesha can not be released from her contract with Sony Music, a contract which keeps her tied to Dr Luke, the man she has filed a sexual assault lawsuit against.

What kind of message does it  send out when a woman is legally forced to choose between not working or working with a man who has sexually and psychologically abused her? Kesha is just another in a long line of women who have been told that their word is just not enough.

Fellow artists have been speaking out Twitter to defend Kesha, including Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Lily Allen, Kelly Clarkson, Halsey, Grimes and Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast), as well as actors Reese Witherspoon, Anne Hathaway and Lena Dunham, using the hashtag #FreeKesha. Taylor Swift has donated $250, 000 to help towards any of Kesha's "financial needs", while Adele publicly voiced her support for Kesha in her BRIT Awards acceptance speech.

Adele's support, in particular, potentially carries a lot of weight, given that she's Sony's biggest selling artist and won every award she was nominated for.

Some have tried to defend the judge's decision, as Dr Luke's legal team have stated that Kesha does not have to work directly with him; however, she would still be contracted to his label, meaning he would essentially still be in control of her career and possible financial stability. Would you want your abuser to still have that control over you? Sadly, this is also reflective of many domestic abuse scenarios.

The judge herself declared her decision to be the "commercially reasonable thing", given how much Dr Luke has invested in Kesha's career so far. Yes, the judge really did place money and financial gain above the safety and wellbeing of a woman.

Fans and supporters of Kesha are currently planning protests outside Sony's headquarters. Hopefully this case will stay in the news, as this is about so much more than a pop star fighting for their creative freedom; it's about how the American legal system regularly hurts women by not protecting them from the men who have abused them.

Kesha, Rape Culture and Pop Music Misogyny

In a genre that periodically pays lip service to the idea of "girl power", what happens when a female pop star alleges that one of the most powerful men in the industry has sexually abused her?

It's been just over a year since Kesha filed a lawsuit against producer Dr Luke, for sexual harassment. Dr Luke responded with a counter suit for extortion.

Kesha met Dr Luke just after turning 18, and signed a recording contract with him soon after. From the beginning, her image and career have been in this man's hands. Kesha's lawsuit refers to Dr Luke pressuring her to take drugs and drink alcohol, before sexually assaulting her; one specific incident involves Dr Luke getting Kesha drunk before persuading her to take "sober pills" (later revealed to be GHB). She woke up in his bed the next day, feeling sore and with no memory of how she got there.

In January 2014, Kesha entered rehab for an eating disorder. Soon after, her mother posted on Twitter, confirming that Kesha was suffering from bulimia and that Dr Luke's ongoing verbal abuse was to blame.

Currently, Kesha is, legally, unable to tour, record (her last album was released in 2012) or further her career in any way due to her contractual obligations to Dr Luke and Sony. Despite being accused of abusing, drugging and raping her, Dr Luke still has full contractual control over Kesha's career.  Because of this, Kesha's legal team have, this week, asked the courts to allow a preliminary injunction against Dr Luke.

Sony recently broke their silence and sided with Dr Luke, claiming that Kesha's testimony is inconsistent and referring to the fact that Kesha did not report the incidents straight away. Sadly, this is a pretty common response when it comes to rape and/or assault cases, even more so if the victim has lost consciousness at any point. And it's exactly this kind of response that stops more people from coming forward.

Fans of Kesha started the #FreedomForKesha hashtag, which trended worldwide. This whole story has received relatively little coverage, and the idea behind the hashtag is to draw attention not only to Kesha's own situation, but to the overriding corruption and misogyny that exists within the mainstream music industry.

Look at Chris Brown, for example - he is still able to enjoy a successful career despite his physical abuse of ex-girlfriend Rihanna. Yet Kesha, after coming forward about being raped and abused by her producer, is having to fight just to record any new music. She has been, effectively, silenced and blacklisted while Dr Luke's career hasn't suffered at all. We live in a society that encourages us to wait for concrete evidence against a man before saying he is guilty, to avoid ruining his life - why don't the same rules apply to victims? Victims are often accused of being liars, without any evidence to back that up.

Regardless of how you feel about Kesha's music, this is just yet another story of a young woman being manipulated and assaulted by someone in a position of power. Every rape survivor deserves to have their accusations validated and taken seriously.