Dr. Luke Sues Kesha’s Mom for Libel for the Second Time
The battle between Kesha and Dr. Luke rages on, as Luke is doubling down on libel allegations against Kesha’s mom, Pebe Sebert. In October 2014, Dr. Luke (real name: Lukasz Gottwald) sued Sebert in New York and in Tennessee, where she lives, claiming she committed defamation by allegedly taking part in a smear campaign accusing him of drugging and sexually abusing Kesha. In February 2016, a judge dismissed Dr. Luke’s lawsuit against Kesha’s mom in New York, but the Tennessee claims continued. Now, Dr. Luke’s lawyers have filed a second defamation lawsuit against Sebert, again in Tennessee. The September 7 lawsuit includes more recent alleged incidents of defamation, including tweets from Sebert as well as a March 10 interview in Billboard. (The latest lawsuit was first reported by Courthouse News Service.)
Christine Lepera, a lawyer for Dr. Luke, issued the following statement to Pitchfork:
After we originally filed suit against Pebe Sebert, she continued to make outrageous, false, and defamatory statements against Dr. Luke in her widespread media campaign to damage him and smear his name. Pebe Sebert’s lawyers flat out refused to allow us to add those statements to the existing case or to toll the statute of limitations on them—so we’ve been compelled to file an additional action.
Alex Little, a lawyer for Pebe Sebert who also represents Kesha, initially declined to comment, but issued the following statement to Pitchfork after being told of Lepera’s remarks:
This marks Dr. Luke’s second effort to sue a mother for publicly supporting and believing her daughter about being raped. It’s also a transparent attempt to delay the trial of these issues. Mrs. Sebert looks forward to presenting her case to a jury as soon as possible. When the evidence is made public, she expects the jury will conclude that all of her statements have been justified.
Of course, Dr. Luke didn’t just sue Kesha’s mom in October 2014; he also sued Kesha. The discovery process is currently underway in that case. Dr. Luke’s defamation lawsuit against Kesha in New York followed her suit against him in California, accusing him of rape and other abuse. (She recently dropped that California suit.) Earlier, a judge in New York dismissed most of her counterclaims against Dr. Luke. That judge previously denied a preliminary injunction that would have allowed Kesha to sign to a label other than Dr. Luke’s Sony Music imprint Kemosabe Records while the case unfolded; Kesha has appealed the injunction ruling.
In a Tennessee federal court filing yesterday, Dr. Luke’s lawyers argued the New York lawsuit against Kesha should proceed first, claiming the case against Kesha’s mom “requires a resolution of the underlying factual dispute as to whether [Kesha] was sexually abused by [Dr. Luke].” Pebe Sebert’s lawyers contended there is no reason to delay the Tennessee case until after the one in New York, claiming, “The only potential outcome from further delay is that, after the New York case, [Dr. Luke] may make a different strategic choice about the wisdom of suing a mother of a rape victim for supporting her daughter.” The joint filing by both sides in the case proposes holding a jury trial on Dr. Luke’s initial libel claims against Pebe Sebert by September 12, 2017.
Pebe Sebert previously dropped a Tennessee countersuit against Dr. Luke, in which she claimed emotional distress.
Kesha is in the midst of her first full tour since the start of the Dr. Luke battle, called “Kesha and The Creepies: The Fuck the World Tour.”
Read “Are Kesha’s Lawyers Playing to the Public More Than the Courts?” (written before Kesha revamped her legal team) and “Why Kesha Lost Her Court Battle, But Not Necessarily the War” on the Pitch.
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