The girl who sang about brushing her teeth with Jack Daniels in the morning is facing a battle bigger than anyone of us can imagine. Kesha Sebert is not exactly who she was portrayed to be, and forced to be, in the music industry. While living alone in Los Angeles, she relied on her musical mentor for just about everything. It was not long after her signing with Dr. Luke's label, Kemosabe Records, that the abuse began.
Majority of Ke$ha's success came in 2010 and 2011 with the release of "TiK ToK," her album "Animal," and following EP, "Cannibal," and her first headlining tour, "Get Sleazy." The girl performing on those stages, singing her highly successful songs, was essentially escaping the harsh reality that awaited her once the shows were over. The painful truth of Kesha's reality for nearly a decade are many instances of physical, mental, and sexual abuse by Dr. Luke, her supposed mentor.
In just about all of these instances, Dr. Luke drugged Kesha in order to take advantage of her in her non-compliant state. In one instance, Dr. Luke forced her to snort an illicit drug before their scheduled flight. While on the plane, Dr. Luke forced himself on her while she was intoxicated and drugged. She was so intoxicated that she threw up on herself during the flight.
Threatened by her label and the man that supposedly lead her to success, she was forced to keep the abuse a secret. However, she finally told her mother after she woke up naked and alone in Dr. Luke's hotel bed one afternoon following the night he gave her "sober pills." After forcing her to drink with him, he forced her to take pills to sober her up. She called her mom as soon as she woke up, confused and scared. She went to the emergency room where she learned the "sober pills" were actually a common date rape drug, GHB, and that she, in fact, had been raped.
Soon after, Dr. Luke threatened to destroy hers and her family's lives, as well as their physical safety. Given the money and the power he had, she firmly believed he had the assets to carry out his threats; therefore, she never talked to anyone else.
In 2012 and 2013, Kesha started showing subtle signs of the mental abuse that Dr. Luke put her through. As a songwriter, she was stumped. She seemingly could not continue to write pop songs about partying because that is not who she is all the time. Fans began to catch on to the forced celebrity image that she had to portray via random tweets and her MTV show, "Kesha: My Crazy, Beautiful Life."
In October 2014, after recovering from bulimia, Kesha filed a complaint. Since then, she and Dr. Luke have been going back and forth in court.
Since the beginning, I have been a huge fan of Ke$ha. Something about her I-don't-give-a-shit, party girl attitude was attractive to my high school sophomore year self, who was the complete opposite. I loved her look and her music. Once I found the music that was never recorded, I became an even bigger fan of hers. Her voice is unique and has so many potential. I always wondered why she stuck with pop music. Now, I know why. She was forced.
Kesha's ongoing battle with Dr. Luke, and subsequently herself, needs to be more well known to the public, even those who are not necessarily fans of her music. She was the party girl, singing about boys and alcohol, but that does not mean she deserves this. As a matter of fact, coming to know that she was not the party girl the music industry made her out to be makes this even more heartbreaking. She was forced to become someone she was not because a "successful" music producer said it was the only way to make her music known. Once her music was known, said music producer tore her down emotionally and mentally until she could hardly believe in herself. Unfortunately, Kesha's battle is not the first of the kind.
Bottom line: Pay attention to Kesha. She's a warrior. She's a symbol for survivors.
