Last week, Kesha scored a win in Dr. Luke’s (real name Lukasz Gottwald) defamation lawsuit against her: It was ruled that he is a “public figure,” which means that proving that Kesha acted with “actual malice” when she claimed he drugged and raped her in 2005 would be more difficult. Legally speaking, though, that doesn’t really matter anymore: Today (June 22), Kesha and Dr. Luke announced in a joint statement that the defamation lawsuit is officially over.
The statement, as posted on Kesha’s Instagram account this afternoon, begins, “Kesha and Dr. Luke have agreed to a resolution of the lawsuit, and have agreed to issue and post a joint statement regarding that resolution. In resolution of that lawsuit, Kesha and Dr. Luke each state the following.”
After that introduction are individual statements from the two. Kesha’s reads:
“Only God knows what happened that night. As I have always said, I cannot recount everything that happened. I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved.”
Dr. Luke’s says:
“While I appreciate Kesha again acknowledging that she cannot recount what happened that night in 2005, I am absolutely certain that nothing happened. I never drugged or assaulted her and would never do that to anyone. For the sake of my family, I have vigorously fought to clear my name for nearly 10 years. It is time for me to put this difficult matter behind me and move on with my life. I wish Kesha well.”
The lawsuit was initially filed way back in 2014, but after years of litigation and other procedural hold-ups, the trial was finally set to start in a matter of weeks, on July 19.
Find Kesha’s post of the joint statement below.