Kesha 'Had a Lot of Trepidation' About Suing Producer Dr. Luke
— -- Singer Kesha had "a lot of trepidation" about suing her longtime producer, Dr. Luke, over allegations of that he was sexually, verbally, emotionally and physically abusive toward her, her lawyer, Mark Geragos, told "Good Morning America" today.
Kesha filed her lawsuit Tuesday, and Dr. Luke - whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald - has filed his own lawsuit against the singer for alleged defamation and breach of contract. Taking legal action was nerve-wracking for the singer, Geragos said.
However, "she’s strong," Geragos told "GMA." "When I talked with her yesterday, I thought she was enormously resilient about this. She’s in a good place."
The singer, 27, sued Dr. Luke claiming that his abuse was so severe that she "nearly lost her life." In the 27-page document, obtained by ABC News, she alleged that he gave her drugs and alcohol so that he could take advantage of her, and that he "cruelly and incessantly" berated her about her physical appearance. She claimed that the alleged verbal abuse contributed to the singer developing an eating disorder, for which she entered treatment earlier this year.
Now, "she’s in a place where she’s strong enough that she can make it work. She can stand up to him," Geragos said. "I mean, this is a frightening thing to have to go through. The date rape. The years of mental and emotional abuse. Those are things that I think anybody, especially at her age when this started, would be devastated by."
Gottwald's lawsuit denies claims made by Kesha and added that her mother "has made clear that extortion is the ultimate goal of this defamatory campaign."
Gottwald's lawyer, Christine Lepera, told ABC News Tuesday that while she had yet to see Kesha's lawsuit, she believed it to be "nothing more than a continuation of her bad and offensive acts."
"As set forth in the complaint that we have filed on behalf of Dr. Luke, Kesha and her mother are engaged in a campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements about Dr. Luke to third parties, including scurrilous and false statements of purported physical and mental abuse of Kesha," Lepera said. "The complaint explains that Kesha and her mother Pebe have wielded these defamatory statements in an attempt to extort Gottwald into releasing Kesha from her exclusive recording agreement with Dr. Luke."