New York Judge Throws Out Kesha’s Abuse Claims Against Dr. Luke: ‘Every Rape Is Not A Gender-Motivated Hate Crime’

A New York judge has thrown out Kesha’s case against Sony Music on the grounds that her producer Dr. Luke sexually assaulted and emotionally abused her.

via USA Today:

The AP reports that Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich, in a ruling Wednesday, said that Kesha’s claims against Dr. Luke (real name: Lukasz Gottwald) can’t go forward because the alleged incidents happened outside New York and beyond the legal time limit.

The court also rejected Kesha’s claims that Sony and Dr. Luke’s treatment counted as a hate crime, saying that “every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime.”

“Although [Dr. Luke’s] alleged actions were directed to Kesha, who is female, [her claims] do no allege that [Luke] harbored animus toward women or was motivated by gender animus when he allegedly behaved violently toward Kesha,” the court noted, according to the Daily Beast.

The court’s ruling Wednesday follows earlier reports that Sony offered to break Kesha’s contract with Dr. Luke’s Sony imprint, Kemosabe, if the singer rescinded her rape accusations against the producer. According to the judge, Kesha acted unreasonably by rejecting this offer.

Kesha’s lawyers had previously filed an appeal to the judge’s February ruling to hold Kesha to her recording contract with Dr. Luke, after she sued him in 2014 for ongoing abuse, including drugging and raping her a decade ago.

The AP reports that one portion of Kesha’s claims, involving contract issues, still survives in court.

Tough break.