Judge rules Kesha defamed Dr. Luke when she told Lady Gaga he raped Katy Perry

Kesha defamed music producer Dr. Luke when she told Lady Gaga that he raped Katy Perry, a judge ruled Thursday.

The decision came in the defamation case that Dr. Luke — whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald — brought against the “Tik Tok” singer in 2017 for allegedly lying when she claimed he drugged and raped her.

Gottwald had argued that Kesha — given name Kesha Rose Sebert — made the statement about Katy Perry in a text message to Lady Gaga to bolster her own accusations against him.

In a deposition, Katy Perry denied that she was ever raped by Gottwald.

“Kesha made a false statement to Lady Gaga about Gottwald that was defamatory per se,” Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter wrote in a decision Thursday.

“There is no evidence whatsoever that Gottwald raped Katy Perry,” Schecter said.

“Moreover, publication of a false statement to even one person, here Lady Gaga, is sufficient to impose liability,” the judge said.

Schecter also rejected Kesha’s only remaining counterclaim against the hitmaker, that she should be released from a contract with his record company KMI, which still collects royalties from her music.

Also, Kesha was ordered by the judge to pay Gottwald over $373,000 in interest for her late payment to him for over $1.3 million in royalties.

Gottwald’s claim that the pop star defamed him by claiming he sexually assaulted her must still be determined by a jury at trial.

In 2016, Kesha dropped her California case against Dr. Luke for allegedly sexually and emotionally abusing her.

Gottwald’s lawyer Christine Lepera said, “Dr. Luke is pursuing this lawsuit to seek recovery for the serious harm Kesha’s false accusations of rape have caused Dr. Luke, his family and his business.”

“Dr. Luke looks forward to the trial of his case where he will prove that Kesha’s other false statements about him were equally false and defamatory,” Lepera added.

Lawyers for Kesha did not immediately return requests for comment.

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