Sony Set To Fire Dr. Luke? Gottwald Denies

The man at the heart of Kesha’s legal battle may be out of a job at Sony Music. Reports started swirling Wednesday evening that Sony Music will drop Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald before his contract expires in 2017.

Dr. Luke’s camp issued a statement denying the report and saying that the two sides have “an excellent relationship.” Gottwald is currently the CEO of Kemosabe Records, which is under the Sony Music umbrella.

The original report from The Wrap claims that Sony Music is attempting to show Dr. Luke the door because of the legal battle with Kesha and the way he treats other artists, but because of the “bad PR” the battle is causing the company. That’s certainly not a way to gain good PR from this.

Gottwald and Kesha (real name Kesha Rose Sebert) have been locked in a legal battle since the signer sued the producer in 2014 claiming sexual, physical, verbal and emotional abuse. Gottwald counter-sued. Kesha is trying to get out a contract she signed with Gottwald that essentially gives him total control over her music career. After a judge denied a court injunction that would have let Kesha record music outside her contract with Dr. Luke and Sony, Twitter exploded with those voicing their support using the #FreeKesha hashtag. Kelly Clarkson was among Kesha’s supporters. She recently has claimed that she only worked with Gottwald in the past because she was blackmailed by her label to do so.

Taylor Swift donated $250,000 to Kesha shortly after the initial court ruling.

Dr. Luke is a man that seems to have the magic touch when it comes to producing pop music hits. The New Yorker wrote a glowing profile of him back in 2013 titled “The Doctor Is In.” That profile was written shortly after two of Gottwald-produced tracks ‘Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus and “Roar” by Katy Perry had been mainstays on the pop charts.

In a previous court case unrelated to this one, both Kesha and her mother, Rosemary Patricia “Pebe” Sebert, testified that Gottwald never made any “sexual advances” towards the singer.  Gottwald cites that testimony in denying his guilt and alleging that the current claims are an effort to get the singer the upper hand in contract talks. Billboard has an article out today where Pebe Sebert details the control Dr. Luke has had over her daughter’s career. She claims that the former Saturday Night Live band member has also affected her relationship with her daughter in a terrible way.

Kesha last released an album in 2012 and last appeared in new music when she was featured with Pitbull on “Timber” in 2013.

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