Kesha and Producer Dr. Luke Are Suing One Another After Singer’s Sexual Assault Claims

Updated 4:11 p.m. EST

Pop star Kesha (formerly known as Ke$ha) is suing her producer Dr. Luke for sexual assault and battery, alleging he drugged her and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions since she first started working with him at age 18.

Kesha’s suit alleges that Dr. Luke — real name Lukasz Gottwald — verbally abused Kesha and made comments about her weight, causing her to develop an eating disorder (she sought treatment earlier this year). The lawsuit alleges repeated instances of Dr. Luke forcing Kesha to take drugs and alcohol before assaulting her while she was intoxicated, and in at least one instance, unconscious. The lawsuit also claims that on one occasion, Kesha had to escape barefoot from Dr. Luke’s house when he became physically violent with her.

Dr. Luke, however, is countersuing Kesha, alleging she is trying to extort him and lying to get out of her contract with him.

“As set forth in the complaint that we have filed on behalf of Dr. Luke, Kesha and her mother are engaged in a campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements about Dr. Luke to third parties, including scurrilous and false statements of purported physical and mental abuse of Kesha,” Dr. Luke’s lawyer, Christine Lepera, said in a statement.

In a statement responding to Dr. Luke’s lawsuit, Kesha’s attorney Mark Geragos said, “This is just another pathetic and entirely predictable example of Dr. Luke’s continued abuse, and a misguided attempt to keep Kesha under his tyrannical control. This lawsuit has absolutely no basis in fact, the law or reality. Kesha is focused on reclaiming her voice and her freedom. She is determined to move on with her life and her career by putting this dark period behind her.”

Dr. Luke has produced nearly all of Kesha’s hits, including “Tik Tok,” “We R Who We R” and “Die Young.”