NEW YORK -Pop singer Kesha made a false claim that Dr. Luke raped Katy Perry when there’s “no evidence whatsoever” that he did, a judge ruled this week while sending a long-running clash between Kesha and her former mentor toward trial.
Kesha’s lawyers said in a statement that they plan to appeal Thursday’s ruling, which also says she owes the prominent producer over $373,000 in interest on royalties she paid him years late.
The decision isn’t the final word in Dr. Luke’s wider-ranging defamation and breach-of-contract suit against Kesha, but his lawyer said the ruling “brings him closer to the justice that he seeks.”
“Dr. Luke looks forward to the trial of his case, where he will prove that Kesha’s other false statements about him were equally false and defamatory,” said the attorney, Christine Lepera.
Kesha, known for such hits as “TiK ToK” and “Praying,” and Dr. Luke have been locked in court battles since 2014, when she filed a lawsuit alleging that he drugged and raped her in 2005 and emotionally abused her for years.
He denied it and sued her, saying she was smearing him with fabrications to try to get out of her record deal.