Kesha and Dr. Luke Settle Defamation Case Out of Court, Signaling End to Long Legal Drama

Kesha and producer Dr. Luke have settled a defamation dispute out of court, both parties announced Thursday, with each releasing a quote related to the settlement that indicated they mutually see this as the end of the road for their lengthy legal disputes.

Dr. Luke said in his statement that he “wish(es) Kesha well,” while the singer said that she wishes “nothing but peace to all parties involved” as the court dramas apparently draw to a close.

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“Only God knows what happened that night,” wrote Kesha. “As I always said, I cannot recount everything that happened. I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved.”

“While I appreciate Kesha again acknowledging that she cannot recount what happened that night in 2005, I am absolutely certain that nothing happened,” Dr. Luke wrote. “I never drugged or assaulted her and would never do that to anyone. For the sake of my family, I have vigorously fought to clear my name for nearly 10 years. It is time for me to put this difficult matter behind me and move on with my life. I wish Kesha well.”

The move to settle comes on the heels of a New York appeals court decision 10 days ago that determined that Dr. Luke would be considered a public figure for the purposes of his lawsuit, making the burden of proof higher for the producer to prove he was defamed by Kesha. The court additionally ruled that Kesha could recover some of her legal fees from Dr. Luke if she prevailed as a defendant. But the producer also came out ahead in some other matters in the court’s lengthy brief, which ruled that some of Kesha’s statements as part of court documents that she wanted to be inadmissible would remain part of the lawsuit and be left for a jury to decide.

The trial was set to begin July 19, after nine years of making its way through the system.

The war between the singer and her former mentor and producer goes back as far as 2014, when Kesha claimed that Dr. Luke (legal name: Lukasz Gottwald) drugged and then raped her in 2005. He has consistently denied the allegations over the years and sued her for defamation over her own claims against him and also her assertion that he assaulted another singer. By his account, Kesha made the allegations because she wanted out of her deal with his record label, something she vigorously denied. Even after the breakup of their personal working relationship, she continued to be contracted to his Kemosabe imprint.

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