Pop singer Ke$ha Rose broke down and cried in Manhattan Superior Court after a judge denied her request for a preliminary injunction allowing her to terminate her contract with Sony.
Ke$ha, whose real name is Kesha Rose Sebert, told the court her producer, Dr. Luke, raped her. She said she feared working with him again. The 28-year-old singer was concerned Sony would refuse to promote her music if she worked with a different producer.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich said Sony would suffer “irreparable harm” if Sebert were allowed to get out of her contract.
Sebert’s contract with Sony calls for her to record six more albums.
The singer’s lawyer, Mark Geragos asked the judge to bar Sony from forcing her to work with Dr. Luke.
Geragos claims Dr. Luke drugged Sebert and sexually assaulted her after her 18th birthday in California. He said Luke subjected her to 10 years of emotional and psychological abuse.
But the judge said she didn’t think Sebert’s claims were “detailed enough” to rule on her case of sexual harassment and discrimination.
The judge told Geragos there was nothing “concrete” to back up Sebert’s claims.
Dr. Luke signed Sebert to his Kemosabe Records label in 2005.
Sebert’s fans lined up outside the courthouse, chanting “Free Kesha Now! Free Kesha Now!”
One fan told her “You don’t deserve this at all. It’s unfair.”
“Nobody should have to work with somebody who has abused her like this,” said Alyssa Johnson, 19, of New Milford Conn. “We’re here to show support.”
