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Kesha’s Time Could Be Running Out In Her Court Battle With Dr. Luke

Both parties have filed amended court papers

Kesha's court battle with her former producer Dr. Luke raged on throughout 2016, and it shows few signs of letting up anytime soon in the new year.

Both parties in the complex legal entanglement have filed amended court papers with new information, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Kesha is still trying to break out of the six-album contract she signed with Dr. Luke, whom she has accused of abusing and sexually assaulting her. Dr. Luke, meanwhile, has sued Kesha and her mother for defamation, claiming that she fabricated her account of abuse in order to win a better contract.

In her counterclaim, Kesha alleges that Dr. Luke had withheld royalties from her own music and from her feature and co-writing credit on Pitbull's "Timber." "It was not until Kesha’s counsel recently threatened further legal action that Dr. Luke released certain funds owed to Kesha in December 2016, two years after they were due," her amended counterclaim reads. "Still, he has not paid her all of the amounts owed."

Dr. Luke's amended papers bring up a text message exchange between Kesha and Lady Gaga in which Kesha says that Luke had also raped another recording artist. "Kesha told Lady Gaga that 'she [i.e., the Other Recording Artist] was raped by the same man' as Kesha," his complaint reads. "Kesha’s assertions to Lady Gaga were completely false. Gottwald did not rape Kesha, and he did not rape the Other Recording Artist."

In a statement provided to MTV News, Dr. Luke's lawyer Christine Lepera said, "Dr. Luke seeks to add an additional defamation claim against Kesha based upon the discovery of another false and defamatory statement she made about him that was part of her calculated effort to harm his reputation and business."

Kesha makes one more major appeal to the court: Her time is running out. Dr. Luke's contract with Sony is said to expire in March, and once Sony is out of the picture, Kesha will be contractually beholden to Luke and Luke only — meaning that he'd have more power over the future of her career than he already does.

"The end of this contract means that Sony may no longer have any role in the creation of Kesha’s music, leaving Kesha’s livelihood in the hands of a person aiming to bankrupt her and her family through litigation, cutting off her legitimately earned income, and personally humiliating her as he has done for years," reads her counterclaim.

Reportedly, both Kesha and Dr. Luke will be giving depositions in the coming week.

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