Despite the strides that have been made for women in this country, and in the entertainment industry, we still live in a society where sexism and rape culture are prevalent. This has become extremely obvious in the atrocities that have befallen singer/songwriter Kesha. Back in 2014, Kesha filed a lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke, accusing him of drugging, raping and abusing her a decade prior. At the time, Kesha’s lawyer Mark Geragos spoke about the lawsuit saying, “This lawsuit is a wholehearted effort by Kesha to regain control of her music career and her personal freedom after suffering for 10 years as a victim of mental manipulation, emotional abuse and sexual assault at the hands of Dr. Luke. The facts presented in our lawsuit paint a picture of a man who is controlling and willing to commit horrible acts of abuse in an attempt to intimidate an impressionable, talented, young female artist into submission for his personal gain. Kesha is focused on moving her life and her career beyond this terrible time.”
Dr. Luke has since denied the allegations and further accused Kesha of trying to get out of her contract with himself and with Sony.
On Friday, New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich ruled against Kesha’s request to nullify the contract with Sony and Dr. Luke saying, “You’re asking the court to decimate a contract that was heavily negotiated and typical for the industry.” Judge Kornreich also went on to say that, “There has been no showing of irreparable harm. She’s being given opportunity to record.” As a result of this ruling, Kesha will have to record six more albums under Kemosabe Records, Dr. Luke’s Sony imprint, or pay $60 million dollars to get out of her contract. Shortly after the terrible news, the 28-year old singer was seen sobbing outside of the courtroom with her mother by her side.
As a result, many of the singer’s fans and other celebrities have rallied behind Kesha to show their support on social media using the hashtags #FreeKesha and #SonySupportsRape. All of this support is wonderful, however they will not overrule the unjust conclusion to Kesha’s case. Furthermore, the results of this ruling highlights why women (and men) don’t report sexual assaults, or wait years until they do so.
HuffPost Women’s Emma Gray summed this up perfectly by saying
“Kesha is a wealthy, beautiful, white celebrity working at the upper echelons of an elite industry. Yet, even these privileges don’t set her apart from other victims of sexual abuse who face a justice system that often doesn’t protect them. Her story sheds light on why rape remains one of the most grossly underreported crimes.”
The truth is, only about 2% of rapists serve jail time for their crime, (ie: Bill Cosby) and often times survivors can’t even win civil suits against their abusers. Kesha’s case just proves that we have so much work to do in our society. Kesha did everything right, she survived continuous assaults and came forward with her allegations. And yet, she is still being forced to work with her abuser. This is horribly disgusting and it continues to tell survivors that their truth and their stories, along with their bodies, are worthless. We absolutely MUST do better.
#FREEKESHA
