In June Kesha and Dr. Luke announced that they had reached a settlement after nearly 10 years of suits and countersuits. Kesha originally sued Dr. Luke to get out of her contract with him and his Kemosabe Records, on the grounds that he had raped, drugged, and verbally and physically abused her. Dr. Luke then countersued Kesha for defamation, and refused to let her out of her contract. The timing of the settlement news was a bit curious as it came just after courts had started ruling in Kesha’s favor. In their carefully worded joint statement, Kesha said she was “looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one.” For his part, Dr. Luke’s comments made it clear he was still a passive aggressive POS. As this year draws to a close, it seems Kesha really is wrapping up this chapter of her life: she is finally contractually free from Dr. Luke and Kemosabe Records, and she’s also parting ways with her management of 16 years.
Kesha has parted ways with both her label and management, a source close to the situation tells Variety. The news comes six months after the singer settled multiple lawsuits with her former producer and label owner Dr. Luke, which stretched over nearly 10 years but were settled out of court in June.
The singer’s deal with Luke’s label, Kemosabe, which is distributed by RCA Records, officially ended last week, the source says, seven months after the release of her last contractual album with the label, “Gag Order,” which was released in May. In a statement to Variety, a rep for her longtime manager confirmed on Tuesday that the singer has also parted ways with the company: “Jack Rovner confirms, after 16 years, Kesha and Vector Management have agreed amicably to part ways, with much love and respect.”
Kesha followed with a statement of her own shortly after: “My manager has been an unwavering supporter of helping me get through the lengthy legal battle I have been embroiled in for almost a decade. We have achieved many great successes and have shared a magnificent part of my life with me. I am so grateful to them and always will be. In need of a fresh start in my life, we have parted ways but I will remain forever grateful for the run we had.” The singer is said to be in discussions with potential new managers; reps for Kemosabe and RCA either declined or did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment.
This has been a long, harrowing fight for Kesha. It took a lot of strength for her to keep going with the lawsuits and to continue growing as a person and an artist — all while knowing her music was still making money for Dr. Luke. While the settlement in June was a big victory (although I’m sure we’ll never know what was paid out), being rid of the contract was always the end goal. It may not have happened as early as she wanted, but there’s still something satisfying about this coming together at the end of the year. She has a purely fresh start for 2024. And she knows it too, judging by the fantastic Instagram post she put up this week: a tasteful pic of her from behind, naked and wading in water, with the caption “Coming back home to me ❤️.” Welcome home, Kesha.
photos credit: Vegan/Backgrid, Getty and via Instagram
I am so happy for her. I am looking forward to her new music. Go Kesha, go.
Congratulations to Kesha!! Here’s to new music in 2024!!!
Free at last!
So happy for her!!
Music contracts are seven years or seven albums because you can’t sign an employment contract for longer than seven years. This “or seven albums” loophole needs to end. These contracts need to be easy to get out of once the seven years are up.
in 2012 Thirty Seconds to Mars made a documentary on this issue. They were able to use the Haviland Law to get out from under their contracts.
ha forgot to name it’s called Artifact if anyone can find it.
Good for her!
Jaysus, how many years was she chained to that rapist?
I’m soooo happy for her! I wish this story had more comments because her being free from that jerk is the best news.
Someone in government needs to lead a crack down on predatory music industry contracts.
They need to legislate minimum artist rights.
They need to have clauses that allow an artist out of their contract if there is any kind of abuse.
It is absolutely foul that this woman was forced to work for her abuser and rapist all of these years.
Commerce should NEVER trump human rights.