Early last month, Kesha dropped her sexual assault lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke after more than two years in an apparent attempt to restart her music career, which had stalled while she fought to break her contract with Sony Music.
But the singer's legal ordeal is far from over: She's currently appealing a February ruling that barred her from breaking her contract under Dr. Luke and now her mother, Pebe Sebert, has been sued by the producer for a second time.
According to Pitchfork (via Courthouse News Service), Dr. Luke has accused Ms. Sebert of libel following a recent string of tweets and an illuminating interview with Billboard. The second suit comes just two years after Dr. Luke's laywer's filed similar defamation suits in October 2014 in New York and Tennessee (where Ms. Sebert lives). The New York defamation suit was eventually dropped, but Dr. Luke and his team have seen fit to sue Kesha's mother in Tennessee again.
"After we originally filed suit against Pebe Sebert, she continued to make outrageous, false, and defamatory statements against Dr. Luke in her widespread media campaign to damage him and smear his name," Dr. Luke's lawyer Christine Lepera told Pitchfork. "Pebe Sebert’s lawyers flat out refused to allow us to add those statements to the [October 2014] case or to toll the statute of limitations on them—so we’ve been compelled to file an additional action."
Meanwhile, Pebe Sebert's lawyer, Alex Little, said, "This marks Dr. Luke’s second effort to sue a mother for publicly supporting and believing her daughter about being raped. It’s also a transparent attempt to delay the trial of these issues." According to Mr. Little, once this case goes before a jury, "[they will] conclude that all of her statements have been justified."
Both parties hope to take the case to trial by September 12, 2017.
