Sony Seeks To Avoid Sharing Sources In Dr. Luke, Kesha Case

Kevin Mazur / Getty Images – Kesha
Kesha performs at the 2017 Firefly Music Festival June 17 in Dover, Del.

A New York Court recently ruled that Sony Music Entertainment must reveal who it interviewed during its internal investigation into Kesha’s claims that Dr. Luke raped and abused her, but Sony is trying to get the decision reversed.

New York Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter ruled July 2 that a list of individuals who Sony interviewed in its investigation may not be protected by attorney-client privilege. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Schecter wrote that. While any list that would reveal legal strategy should be protected, “Sony does not… ultimately provide a detailed or convincing explanation of how or why disclosure of the subject interviewee list would reveal legal strategy in this instance.”

Sony claims the investigation was conducted in response to potential legal action and should remain privileged, according to Billboard. Sony is not party to the suit in question, as it was filed by Dr. Luke against Kesha for defamation.

Over the years Dr. Luke and Kesha have fought legal battle in multiple courts, with Kesha seeking to be released from her contracts with Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records, alleging the producer signed her when she was 18 and then drugged, raped and abused her for almost a decade. Kemosabe is a subsidiary of Sony. 

Dr. Luke sued Kesha for defamation and said she falsely accused him because contract negotiations were not going her way. He seeks $50 million.

For the most part, Kesha has been losing the extended court battles and she dropped her California suit in 2016, choosing to keep the battle in New York, where she is trying to achieve release from her contract through counterclaims. 

Kesha performed an emotional rendition of her song “Praying” with a chorus of women at the most recent Grammy Awards, and starts a co-headlining tour with Macklemore June 6. She also has solo dates planned in North America, Southeast Asia, and Australia this year.