Judge denies Kesha's hate-crime claims against Dr. Luke

In a significant blow to the #FreeKesha movement, a New York judge has denied most of Kesha's counterclaims against Dr. Luke in the pop star's ongoing effort to be released from her contract at Sony. 

In her decision, New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich rejected the argument by Kesha's legal team that her contract at Sony traps her in a slavery-like relationship with Dr. Luke, whom she's accused of rape and other forms of abuse. Kornreich maintained that she has been given the opportunity to work with several other producers.

Kornreich's motion comes two months after she denied Kesha's request for a temporary injunction from her contract at Sony. According to The New York Times, Kesha's legal team said "the truth or falsity of the allegations of abuse are not at issue" in that motion. In that ruling, Kornreich denied to rule on a motion to dismiss the case. 

Dr. Luke has repeatedly and vehemently denied the allegations, pointing frequently to sworn testimony during a deposition in which Kesha says she never had any physical contact with the producer.

Kesha's legal team had argued that Dr. Luke had violated New York hate crime statutes in his alleged abuse. But in her motion on Wednesday, Kornreich said these fall outside of the statute of limitations and fail to qualify as a "hate crime." 

Kornreich noted that New York's hate crime laws also must prove physical violence or property damage. The only alleged incidents in which that is the case, occurred in 2005 and 2008, outside the statute of limitations. They also did not place in New York, so Kornreich said it does not fall in her court's jurisdiction. 

The alleged 2005 incident is when the producer allegedly gave her something he called "sober pills" and Kesha woke up "naked, sore and sick in his hotel room." In 2008, meanwhile, Kesha alleged that Dr. Luke forced her to snort a drug before the two boarded a plane and "continuously forced himself" on her during the flight. 

She ruled that the incidents were not gender motivated.  "Every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime," she wrote in the Wednesday's motion. 

Kesha's team had argued that there had been abuse after 2008, but Kornreich said they "gave no specifics." In terms of emotional and verbal abuse, she said "insults about her value as an artist, her looks, and her weight are insufficient to constitute extreme, outrageous conduct intolerable in civilized society."

Kornreich added that while Kesha "never dared talk about, let alone report, what Dr. Luke had done to her" because he threatened to destroy her career, she "failed to make the necessary allegations."

Kornreich also denied Kesha's request to amend her complaint. Kesha's legal team announced last month that they had plans to appeal the February decision, likening her Sony contract to "slavery." A representative for Kesha's legal team had no comment on the decision. 

Reached by Mashable, lawyers for Sony and Dr. Luke said they had no comment on the matter.

Kesha also filed claims in a Los Angeles court, but a judge put that lawsuit on hold. 

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.