News broke on February 19 about the decision in regards to Kesha’s ability to record outside of her label with which Dr. Luke, her alleged rapist and former producer. That decision, which ruled against Kesha’s wishes to break away from Kemosabe and Dr. Luke, reveals a scary dynamic between the sexes in the music industry.
After originally filing a suit against Dr. Luke in October of 2014 accusing him of “drugging, raping and emotionally abusing her in a manner that ultimately led her to an eating disorder,” according to an article by The Washington Post, Kesha has not been able to record music.
In order to start working again, Kesha filed an injunction that would allow her to work outside of her contract until the case was complete, but was denied by New York State Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich.“You’re asking the court to decimate a contract that was heavily negotiated and typical for the industry,” Kornreich states, according to an article by Rolling Stone.
However, that same article discusses that Kesha’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, points out that her career could be “’irreparably harmed’ if she [does] not return to recording music.” Without the ability to record outside of her label, she is reversibly forced to work with her attacker.
Some, like Judge Kornreich, do not see it that way stating that Kesha has been “given [the] opportunity to record” because of Sony and Dr. Luke’s agreement that Kesha can record music without Dr. Luke’s input or presence in the studio, according to the article by Rolling Stone.
Kesha, understandably, denied that proposal, as it would not take away from the fact that she is trapped in a contract with her alleged abuser.
Dr. Luke’s legal team released a statement denying the allegations that Kesha would not be free to record music without the supervision of Dr. Luke, and said, “The New York County Supreme Court on Friday found that Kesha is already ‘free’ to record and release music without working with Dr. Luke as a producer if she doesn’t want to,” according to Billboard.com.
With this case, the small amount of trust we as a society instill in women when they come forward as victims of violent, sexual acts is exposed, and it is ugly. Dr. Luke and his lawyers claim that this is an attempt “to extort him in order to extricate her from contracts with Luke’s Kemosabe Records label” an article on Billboard states, “His attorneys, led by Christine Lepera, have argued that Kesha’s claims came too late and are too vague, the harm is overstated and that she’s not likely to prevail.”
Furthermore, Judge Kornreich made statements in reference to the severity of the situation, “I don’t understand why I have to take the extraordinary measure of granting an injuction,” she states according to that same article on Billboard.
The language being used shows that when women come forward with information about sexual violence, people automatically pin them as a liars or “dramatic,” adjectives that belittle the traumatic event and its consequences.
Judge Kornreich does not understand why extraordinary measures need to be taken? Breaking it down more simply may make it more understandable for her.
Kesha, a successful businesswoman, musician and millionaire many times over, has every right to work in an environment in which she feels physically and mentally safe. Unfortunately, because her producer allegedly sexually assaulted her, her work environment is no longer able to provide her with an place in which she feels safe. This lawsuit, brought on by Dr. Luke’s alleged decision to sexually assault Kesha, is preventing her from doing her job and making money unless she chooses to work within a contract and company that condones sexual violence. The extraordinary measures would essentially be allowing for someone to break away from their violent attacker in order to continue having the ability to support themselves and do the job they are trained to do.
There is a dangerous intersection of money and violence here also in that the contract became the front-runner in the case and not the potential violence that took place. These condoning behaviors further present an image that these violent self-conducts are acceptable. Lena Dunham spoke on the issue and all it represents for women and the ugly culture of sexual violence in an article she wrote for her own publication, Lenny Letter, “The lack of perspective on the part of Sony — the inability to look at the worth of a woman’s platinum records versus the worth of her soul being intact — is horrifying.”
She’s right. In part, this case comes down to the fact that the court system is regarding a contract, in other words: money, as more important than not only the mental and physical harm of a human being, but also the obvious societal trends impacting women. We cannot stand idly by watching events like this unfold because it only cultivates the behavior.
Fellow artists and fans alike have come together in support of Kesha. Stars such as Lady Gaga wrote about the issue, according to an article by NME.com, “Why is the victim always the ‘liar,’” she stated Taylor Swift has donated 250,000 dollars in support of her legal funds. They are accompanied by a slew of other stars standing in support of the singer.
What we must ask ourselves now is: How many layers of this beast that is the sexist structure of our society must be exposed before a woman’s physical and mental health are thought of as more important than an industry contract?