News on Kesha has spread like wildfire since her request for a preliminary injunction to get out of her recording contract on Feb. 19, 2016. On this day, the New York Supreme Court denied her preliminary injunction, which means Kesha is still required under contract with Sony Music Entertainment to record six more albums with Dr. Luke, his real name being Lukasz Gottwald, Kesha's music producer and alleged abuser.
In 2014, Kesha originally sued Dr. Luke for ongoing abuse, drugging and raping her. The New York Supreme Court ruled against letting Kesha out of her contract with Dr. Luke that would allow her to record other music with another producer. New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich stated, "You're asking the court to decimate a contract that heavily negotiated and typical for the industry," after hearing Dr. Luke had invested $60 million into Kesha's career. Kornreich's denial of Kesha's preliminary injunction was based on the grounds that it is commercially irresponsible to grant her the injunction, and there are no hospital records or other medical evidence that would otherwise prove the allegations to be true.
When the denial of Kesha's injunction was released, society went nuts. The hashtag #FreeKesha exploded throughout social media platforms including Twitter and Instagram. There is even a GoFundMe to raise money to buy Kesha out of her contract; within five days of this being publicized, at least 1,378 people have raised $20,847 out of the $2 million needing to be raised. Thousands have expressed their own forms of supporting Kesha; some pop stars have tweeted at Kesha to share their love and support for her, such as Demi Lovato, Lady Gaga and even Adele, who used her acceptance speech at the Brit Awards on Feb. 24 to show her love and support for Kesha.
I stand with Kesha on her fight for freedom. It is clear that to some extent her allegations against Dr. Luke are true from pictures taken of her at the courtroom upon hearing the denial of her preliminary injunction. In the picture below, it is clearly evident how much Kesha has gone through to be set free from Dr. Luke. That is not the reaction of a liar. That is the face of someone who has been put through some sort of abuse in the 10 years and is now being forced to continue a contract with her abuser.
To make her case against Dr. Luke even stronger, Dr. Luke deleted an older tweet from October 2009 that said, "Damn my artists work hard!!!!!!!" with a picture of Kesha sleeping. He deleted the tweet on Feb. 20, 2016, which was the day after the denial of Kesha's preliminary injunction. He deleted it after some users on Twitter discovered the tweet, but unfortunately for him, the tweet and picture attached to his official Twitter handle is circulating among social media. This tweet alone provides enough evidence to allow for Kesha's preliminary injunction due to the fact that in a civil case — which this is — the judge or jury only needs a "preponderance of the evidence," meaning they only need evidence that is convincing and its probable truth rather than needing a substantial amount of evidence that would be needed in a criminal case.
I stand with Kesha because no one, man or woman, should have to be forced to be in any type of environment where he or she feels threatened. In today's society, sexual abuse and rape are hot topics, and many wonder why victims of rape or abuse never speak out; if this case has just one impact on society, it is discouragement for young women or men to speak out about being victims of rape or abuse. It is reinforcement for "blame the victim" in these instances. This also reinforces the idea that whoever has the most money wins the case, rather than the courts being there to serve the people. I stand with Kesha because she is brave to speak out and demand justice for what has been done to her. I stand with Kesha because she is a victim. I stand with Kesha because no one should have to go through this. Ever.
Free Kesha.
