Kesha wants to be clear: She is not free

(Image credit: Angela Weiss/Getty Images)

last updated 27 October 2016

When Kesha was denied by a New York judge earlier this year her request for an injunction on her recording contract, "Free Kesha" became the rallying cry of her fans. The singer had notably sought to be freed from her contract on the grounds that it forced her to work with producer Dr. Luke, who she claims raped and emotionally abused her. Today, Kesha is in a sort of limbo, unable to release new music due to pending contract litigation and having to tour at small clubs to earn the money to pay for expensive — and seemingly interminable — litigation, The New York Times Magazine reports.

From the outside looking in, though, it seems like Kesha has finally been unshackled. She is working on new music. She is appearing at clubs. But when one of her fans, who call themselves "Animals," raved that the singer was free, Kesha wanted to be very clear:

Here Kesha got serious. She looked the Animal in the face and said very carefully: "No, no. I'm not free. Don't think that, because there's still a lawsuit. I have new music. I — " She stopped herself, then hugged the Animal and a few more, took a picture with all of them and left.Later, she told me that people didn't really understand the predicament she was in. They think it's simple, that she's free or not free, that she must have won her court case because she's performing. "They were like, 'Oh, my gosh, you're free,' and I was like, 'No, sweetheart, I love you, but no, I am not, and I don't know where you got that information.'" Her Animals, the world at large, they didn't really get that she had written new songs — 22 of them — and recorded them at her own expense and that they were sitting somewhere waiting to be completed and polished and released. She told me that she wanted to get her story out so people really understood what was going on — that right now, she is the opposite of free. [The New York Times Magazine]

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Update Oct. 27: A statement from Dr. Luke’s lawyer Christine Lepera called Kesha’s allegations “false," and read, in part: "The New York Times Magazine profile piece that ran today unfortunately has many inaccuracies. This article is part of a continuing coordinated press campaign by Kesha to mislead the public, mischaracterize what has transpired over the last two years, and gain unwarranted sympathy. … She never intended to prove her claims. She has voluntarily withdrawn her California complaint, after having her counterclaims in New York for alleged abuse dismissed.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.