Kesha’s former attorney defamed music producer Dr. Luke by falsely accusing him of raping Lady Gaga, a New York judge has ruled.
Page Six reported that Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Sabrina Kraus ruled in favor of Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, finding that a series of tweet’s from Kesha’s former attorney Mark Geragos included “false statements of fact” that defamed the music producer. As the outlet made clear, this “decision does not mean that the attorney will be liable in the case, which could potentially go to a jury.”
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Luke that alleged Geragos defamed him on Twitter on December 2, 2014 by implying that Luke had raped Lady Gaga. The pop singer had recently revealed on Howard Stern’s radio show that she had been raped by a music producer 20 years her senior.
“Geragos had tweeted a TMZ article about the pop star describing how she was sexually assaulted by a music producer who was 20 years older than her, asking followers to ‘guess’ who the unnamed individual was. When one Twitter user suggested it was Luke, he replied, ‘#bingo,’” Page Six reported.
Lady Gaga publicly denied that it was Luke who raped her. She also swore to it in a court affidavit.
Judge Kraus noted in her ruling that the details Lady Gaga provided about her attacker didn’t even match up to Luke, since he was not the right age and never produced the singer’s music. Kraus must now decide whether Geragos acted negligently or recklessly when he made the defaming comments.
In addition to suing Geragos, Luke is also suing Kesha, who he claims also defamed him by allegedly falsely accusing him of raping her. As Page Six noted, a “judge in that case found Kesha liable for defamation for saying that Luke raped Katy Perry — a claim Perry has denied”
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Luke received a win in court last April when an appeals judge ruled he didn’t have to meet a higher standard of review for his defamation claims since he isn’t a household name.
Bloomberg Law reported that the Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division, First Department, ruled that Luke didn’t have to meet a higher bar for defamation because even though he is “an acclaimed producer, he isn’t a household name.” This means Gottwald “isn’t a public figure, or even a limited-purpose public figure, and therefore isn’t required to show that Kesha acted with malice or gross irresponsibility,” Bloomberg reported.
The lawsuit stems from a recording agreement Kesha signed with Gottwald in 2005, which reportedly required Kesha “to provide Gottwald’s production company, KMI, exclusive recording services that could be extended through the release of her sixth album,” Bloomberg reported. Kesha later tried to get out of the agreement and threatened to accuse Gottwald of drugging and sexually abusing her at a party in October 2005, a claim Gottwald has vigorously denied.
In 2010, Kesha and her mother both testified that the drugging and sexual assault never happened. The testimony came in a lawsuit filed by Kesha’s former managers against the singer and Gottwald.