--- title: Kesha Drops Lawsuit Against Dr. Luke in California description: Kesha has dropped her sexual assault lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke after a long court battle, according to a report canonical: https://time.com/4434482/kesha-dr-luke-sexual-assault-lawsuit/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-02T00:46:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T23:02:35.000Z og:title: Kesha Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Dr. Luke in California og:description: Her lawyer says she is "focused on getting back to work" og:url: https://time.com/4434482/kesha-dr-luke-sexual-assault-lawsuit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt398bea013e891969/6988a0c0e20a879cdda91e25/kesha.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 2016 Planned Parenthood Annual Gala og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kesha Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Dr. Luke in California twitter:description: Her lawyer says she is "focused on getting back to work" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt398bea013e891969/6988a0c0e20a879cdda91e25/kesha.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kesha Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Dr. Luke in California > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=62e2907f-5de4-487b-903b-9cccff62fa0e&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Updated: Dec 14, 2023 11:02 PM UTCPublished: Aug 2, 2016 12:46 AM UTC  Kesha arrives at the 2016 Planned Parenthood Annual Gala at Washington Hilton on June 9, 2016 in Washington, DC. Kesha arrives at the 2016 Planned Parenthood Annual Gala at Washington Hilton on June 9, 2016 in Washington, DC. Leigh Vogel—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Updated: Dec 14, 2023 11:02 PM UTCPublished: Aug 2, 2016 12:46 AM UTC [Kesha](https://www.buzzfeed.com/claudiarosenbaum/kesha-drops-sex-assault-case-against-dr-luke?utm%5Fterm=.brOM8V6M#.ulRNBbQN) has dropped a sexual assault lawsuit in California against producer [Dr. Luke](http://time.com/4252867/dr-luke-denies-being-dropped-by-sony-kesha/), but will continue a legal action through New York’s courts. The singer initially filed a sexual assault lawsuit against her producer in California in 2014\. He later sued her in New York for breach of contract, and she countersued there with [claims of rape and abuse](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/kesha-enlists-new-legal-firepower-880374). The New York case took precedent over the California suit, putting it on hold, before Kesha requested a [preliminary injunction](http://time.com/4231050/kesha-denied-injunction-dr-luke/) in New York which she was denied. She is appealing that ruling, but a source close to her legal team confirmed she has filed to dismiss the California suit. “Kesha is focused on getting back to work and has delivered 28 new songs to the record label,” her lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said in a [statement to Buzzfeed News](https://www.buzzfeed.com/claudiarosenbaum/kesha-drops-sex-assault-case-against-dr-luke?utm%5Fterm=.brOM8V6M#.ulRNBbQN). “We have conveyed to Sony Music and the label Kesha’s strong desire to release the single and an album as soon as possible.” In a tweet, Kesha signaled that she would continue to pursue the New York suit: > [](https://twitter.com/KeshaRose/status/760289731238297601) In a statement to TIME, Dr. Luke’s lawyer Christine Lepera wrote, “If Kesha is voluntarily dismissing her claims in the California case, it is because she has no chance of winning them. Earlier this year, she lost her meritless counterclaims against Dr. Luke in the New York Action. Recently, the California Court invited Dr. Luke and the other defendants to move to dismiss Kesha’s claims in that action. Kesha never should have brought her false and meritless claims against Dr. Luke in any court. Dr. Luke’s defamation and other claims against Kesha are still proceeding.” Sony did not immediately respond to request for comment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4434482/kesha-dr-luke-sexual-assault-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4434482/kesha-dr-luke-sexual-assault-lawsuit/"},"headline":"Kesha Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Dr. Luke in California","datePublished":"2016-08-02T00:46:14.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T23:02:35.000Z","description":"Kesha has dropped her sexual assault lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke after a long court battle, according to a report","url":"https://time.com/4434482/kesha-dr-luke-sexual-assault-lawsuit/","keywords":["motto","entertainment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt398bea013e891969/6988a0c0e20a879cdda91e25/kesha.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt398bea013e891969/6988a0c0e20a879cdda91e25/kesha.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 Planned Parenthood Annual Gala","caption":"2016 Planned Parenthood Annual Gala","creditText":"Leigh Vogel—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4434482/kesha-dr-luke-sexual-assault-lawsuit/","name":"Kesha Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Dr. Luke in California"}}]}] ```