Kesha has given her verdict on the news that Katy Perry worked with Dr Luke – who she accused of emotional abuse and sexual assault in a decade-long lawsuit – on her new music.
Earlier this week, Perry announced her return to music with news that the single ‘Woman’s World’ will drop on July 11. Fans noticed that Dr Luke was listed as a co-producer and Rolling Stone confirmed that he was indeed involved in creating the song, citing a source at Capitol Records, .
Perry has frequently collaborated with the producer on some of her biggest hits, including ‘I Kissed A Girl’, ‘California Gurls’ and ‘Dark Horse’, but the news proved controversial following his and Kesha’s long-running legal battle.
After Kesha sued him, the producer denied the allegations and countersued the artist, claiming she had breached the recording contract they had with one another and made up rape allegations in an attempt to get out of the deal.
Perry did get brought into proceedings when Kesha alleged that Perry was also a victim of abuse at the hands of Dr Luke. Perry strongly denied this and a judge later ruled that Kesha had defamed Dr Luke by suggesting as much.
In 2018, Perry said that she “felt pressured” to support Kesha. She also revealed that she felt like “Luke was using me as a pawn” to assert his innocence, and that she was “annoyed” with both parties. Dr Luke was not involved in making her 2017 album ‘Witness’, which she added was because she didn’t want to feel like she was “picking a side”.
Kesha tweeted “lol” as the news came out, which was assumed to be a response to Perry collaborating with Dr Luke again.
lol
— kesha (@KeshaRose) June 17, 2024
Last December, it was reported that Perry was gearing up to release her “most personal” material yet in 2024. It was said at the time that plans for a world tour were also underway.
Kesha and Dr Luke’s legal battle came to an end last summer with the pair settling just one month before it was supposed to go to trial. Kesha has maintained her original claims against Dr. Luke.
Kesha played her first show since she had finally departed Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe label earlier this month.
Headlining West Hollywood Pride at OutLoud Fest., she said on stage: ““This is my first show as a free motherfucking woman. Anybody else feeling free as fuck tonight?”