Kim Petras has defended her decision to work with alleged Kesha abuser Dr. Luke, in since deleted tweets.
Singer and trans icon Kim Petras has (we think?) defended her past collaborative works with Dr. Luke, the producer and alleged abuser of Kesha, in a since-deleted (then reshared, then deleted) tweet.
While Grammy-nominated Petras is finally enjoying some long-overdue attention from the mainstream music industry, following her history-making duet with Sam Smith, ‘UNHOLY’, there is one question that keeps plaguing the ‘Future Starts Now‘ singer; and that is her decision to work with Dr. Luke.
Sam Smith and Kim Petras make trans HISTORY!
‘Unholy’ is now the first ever Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit by an out non-binary artist, as well as the first No. 1 by an openly trans artist.
We 👏 love 👏 to 👏 see 👏 it 👏 #SamSmith #KimPetras #Unholy #Transgender #NonBinary pic.twitter.com/0Zm8IMgVAj
— Queer Insider 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ (@qitweets) October 24, 2022
Kesha filed a civil lawsuit against Luke in 2014, alleging emotional and sexual abuse. The pair had previously worked together for a decade, during which Kesha had some of her biggest hits.
Dr. Luke countersued Kesha for defamation that same year, in part claiming she had defamed him by telling Lady Gaga he had raped Katy Perry.
Perry denied the claim during a deposition, while Dr. Luke has also denied the claim.
Judge sides with producer Dr. Luke, ruling Kesha guilty of defamation and ordered her to pay him $370,000 due to her claims that Luke also sexually assaulted Katy Perry.
Kesha also has to pay him over $1.3 million in royalties which is approximately 1/4 of her total net worth. pic.twitter.com/c5p0bENNgk
— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 7, 2020
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Jennifer G. Schecter eventually ruled in the Dr. Luke’s favour in 2020.
It became, and continues to be, a huge point of discourse on social media, with the #FreeKesha movement still demanding justice and liberation for the singer.
The long running legal battle between the pair is now scheduled to get to court in July 2023. A February hearing had originally been planned, but that has been pushed back because of ongoing appeals which could impact the trial.
Kesha and her legal team have argued that the trial cannot go ahead until her pre-trial appeals are resolved, as the defamation trial will need to address the singer’s original claims against the producer.
Luke’s defamation lawsuit against Kesha is the final stage of what became a complex, multi-state legal battle.
He has continually denied the allegations against him and argues that Kesha’s claims have negatively impacted on his career, thus he is suing for defamation.
Kim Petras defends her decision to work with Dr. Luke, the alleged abuser of Kesha, in since deleted, then re-shared tweet.
“I have nothing to say or be ashamed of#LGBTQ pic.twitter.com/eRgmTbt1Dr
— Queer Insider 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ (@qitweets) November 27, 2022
Of course, as Kim Petras pointed out in her now-deleted reply (above), she isn’t the only female musician to have worked with Luke since the claims and controversy arose.
The likes of Saweetie and Doja Cat have both avoided offering any direct answers about his involvement in their work.
When Rolling Stone asked Doja Cat about working with the producer, she said:
“There’s shit that he’s credited for, where I’m like, ‘Hmm, I don’t know, I don’t know if you did anything on that.’” She later retracted the comment in a statement, writing “The credits on my music are accurate, and I don’t want to imply anything else.”
In a 2018 interview with NME, Kim Petras offered a diplomatic answer to questions about working with Luke, saying:
“I’m a big fan of his, and we write music very well together. So, yeah, it was a really good experience.”
Then asked if she would work with him again, the singer replied, “Yeah, totally.”
Then adding: “I would like my fans to know that I wouldn’t work with somebody I believe to be an abuser of women, definitely not.”
Petras has since faced regular comments about the matter on social media, including today (November 27), where one user commented “stop defending dr luke then”.
To which she replied, “50000000 ppl work with him why yall only coming at me . I have nothing to say or be ashamed of at all . go away”
Petras then deleted that reply, instead sharing to her feed, “I have nothing to say or be ashamed of [salute emoji] stand that bye”.
That tweet was also then deleted.
Rumours then started to flat around the social app that Kim’s account had been hacked.
At the time of writing, there has been no official word from team Petras on the matter.
Kim Petras reacts to her own actions:
“r u kidding me”#FreeKesha #MuteDrLuke pic.twitter.com/Kzgud0ceCy— Kesha Legion (@KeshaLegion) November 27, 2022