Gaga in court fight over pop singer pal
LADY GAGA says she’s being manipulated and falsely accused of unreasonable behaviour in an ongoing legal battle. The singer has been summoned to testify in a high-profile defamation suit between US pop singer pal, Kesha and embattled music producer Lukasz Gottwald aka Dr Luke. In 2014 Kesha filed a complaint alleging Dr Luke emotionally and physically abused her. She also sought to invalidate her recording contracts with him. He filed a countersuit, accusing her of defamation. In 2016, Kesha dropped her sexual abuse claims, while Dr Luke’s defamation suit against her continued. Luke, 43, wants Gaga, 31, to discuss text messages sent between her and Kesha in which the 30-year-old singer stated she was abused by him. A statement from Dr Luke’s lawyer, reads: “She has relevant information regarding, among other things, false statements about Dr Luke made to her by Kesha [imploring Gaga to join a] smear campaign against [Dr Luke].” Gaga’s team has hit back, stating: “She has provided all of the relevant information in her possession and is at most an ancillary witness in this process. Dr Luke’s team is attempting to manipulate the truth… by exaggerating Lady Gaga’s role and falsely accusing her of dodging reasonable requests.”
The star had joined an army of celebrities in supporting Kesha, including Adele – who in her acceptance speech at 2015’s Brit Awards stated that she stood by Kesha – and Taylor Swift, who donated £250,000 towards the singer’s legal costs.
Gaga once stated: “I feel like she’s being very publicly shamed for something that happens in the music industry all the time, to women and men.” Gaga also promoted the “Free Kesha” campaign on social media.