Lady Gaga’s badass responses from Kesha’s defamation suit have been unsealed, and it’s #womensupportingwomen goals
For the past four years, Kesha has been embroiled in a legal battle with her producer Lukasz Gottwald (aka Dr. Luke) after she accused him of sexual assault, harassment, and battery. The producer has repeatedly denied her allegations, and is currently suing Kesha for defamation. Lady Gaga, who was subpoenaed in the suit, stood with the “Here Comes the Change” singer throughout the legal process, and now, her deposition has been unsealed, proving just how unwavering her support was.
In the September 2017 deposition, unsealed on January 29th and obtained by The Blast, Lady Gaga described the first time she formally met Kesha, which happened at Dr. Luke’s home studio. She encountered Kesha wearing only her underwear.
"What we discussed was, what I recall was her immense sadness and depression and fear," Gaga said at the time. "She was visibly very different than when I had seen her before, and—but I can’t say specifically what we spoke about. I just recall it was emotional and I wanted to be there for her."
She went on to explain that over the course of several years, Kesha told her about being sexually assaulted by Dr. Luke. The producer’s lawyer challenged Gaga, arguing that she had no real first-hand knowledge of what took place and only knew what Kesha had told her. The attorney also brought up “false accusations of rape,” to which Gaga replied: “How about all of the women that are accused of being liars and how she was slut-shamed in front of the entire world.”
This Lady Gaga Dr. Luke deposition is so emblematic of where we are at in the #metoo conversation
This is so hard to read but holy crap Lady Gaga a true hero here pic.twitter.com/IgkmD6LVAj
— 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 (@treytylor) January 30, 2019
Dr. Luke’s attorney continued to press, again suggesting that because Gaga was relying on Kesha’s account, she didn’t actually have valid information. But the “Bad Romance” singer, who has previously discussed her own sexual assault, dismissed the notion.
"I have factual knowledge of her depression," she told the attorney. "I have factual knowledge of her need for support and love. I have factual knowledge of the spiral that I watched that girl go down. I have factual knowledge of trauma. I am informed and intelligent about this issue. That girl has experienced serious trauma and she is in the middle of that right now. And you are all a party to it."
She continued by wondering, “Why on earth would this girl tell the entire world this happened? Why on earth? Do you know what it’s like for survivors? Do you know what it’s like to tell people?”
Gaga’s defense of Kesha is so powerful—and also serves as an important reminder of how difficult it is for victims to speak up. Thank you—to Kesha, Gaga, and to all of the survivors helping to destigmatize this process.
