Kesha has some big music stars in her corner as her latest legal battle with producer Dr. Luke moves forward.
The Blast reports that Pink and Avril Lavigne have both signed legal documents that support the "Praying" singer as they fail to back up claims made by Dr. Luke (real name: Lukasz Gottwald) in his $50 million defamation lawsuit against Kesha.
Both Pink (real name: Alecia Moore) and Avril have worked with Luke in the past. Both but say their decision to stop working with the hit-making producer years ago had nothing do with Kesha's claims that he sexually assaulted and abused her during their decade-long working relationship. (Luke has denied Kesha's allegations, and a judge has ruled against her.)
In a sworn affidavit signed by Pink — who last year said that in her experience, Dr. Luke is "not a good person" — she states, "The reason I have not worked with Dr. Luke since 2006 has nothing to do with Kesha Sebert, her words, or her actions."
Avril's sworn affidavit has almost identical language: "The reason I have not worked with Dr. Luke since 2007 has nothing to do with Kesha Sebert, her words, or her actions."
The latest document filing also reveals, The Blast reports, that Kelly Clarkson and Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine have been deposed for the lawsuit, though the contents of their testimony has not been revealed.
In a May legal filing obtained by The Blast, Dr. Luke alleges that Kesha's claims about his behavior have affected his bottom line and cost him tens of millions of dollars. Over the course of 10 years, his legal team claims, he would have made $29.9 million in producer and publishing royalties, $8.7 million from co-writing tracks with songwriters on his label, and $10.2 million for work that would have been done on Katy Perry's fourth, fifth and sixth albums.
According to a previous report from The Blast, Kesha's legal team countered that Luke's financial figures are based "on his past hits and ability to secure top performers, which she doubts he would have been able to do."
In a statement to Wonderwall.com at the time, Dr. Luke's team said, "Kesha's false accusations have caused tremendous damage to Dr. Luke, his family and his businesses. Kesha's recent court filing misstates and misrepresents an expert accountant's calculations of certain revenue that Mr. Gottwald has lost as a result of Kesha's false accusations. The ultimate amount of Dr. Luke's damages is for a jury to decide."
In a 2017 interview with The New York Times, Pink weighed in on the Dr. Luke-Kesha case. "I don't know what happened," she said, referring to Kesha's accusations, "but I know that regardless of whether or not Dr. Luke did that, this is his karma and he earned it because he's not a good person." Pink went on to say that she's told Luke why she stopped working with him. "I have told him that to his face and I do not work with him. He doesn't do good business, he's not a kind person, he doesn't do the right thing when given ample opportunities to do so, and I don't really feel that bad for him."
The legal saga between Kesha and the producer, both Grammy nominees, has been ongoing for nearly four years. In October 2014, Kesha claimed that Luke abused, drugged and sexually assaulted her in the period that they worked together and she also sought to be released from her contract with him, which a judge has refused to do. Luke sued her that same month for defamation and breach of contract.