LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — In a partially unsealed deposition released on Monday, singer Katy Perry denied rumors that she was sexually assaulted by noted record producer Dr. Luke.
The transcript of the deposition, obtained by Variety, was released as a part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by Dr. Luke against Kesha in 2014 alleging defamation.
The lawsuit was filed just two days after Kesha Sebert had sued Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, attempting to free herself from a recording contract and accused him of drugging and raping her.
In the transcript, Perry denies that she had been sexually assaulted by Gottwald, denied being drugged by him and she clarified that she had never had a romantic relatonship with him.
Rumors that Perry had been sexually assaulted appeared to come from Kesha, who made the claim in a 2016 text message sent to another pop singer, Lady Gaga.
In a separate deposition, which was also obtained and reported by Variety, Lady Gaga discussed hearing the rumor about Katy Perry from John Janick, the CEO and chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records.
“He said something like, ‘I heard he raped Katy, too,’” Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta testified.
Perry clarified that she knew of Janick, but did not know him personally, and would be unable to identify him.
Gottwald’s legal team alleged that the rape allegations were part of a smear campaign intended to damage his career and facilitate the exit of Kesha’s recording contract.
In another twist in the case, Variety reported that they had obtained a Sunshine Sachs press strategy, dated Oct. 10, 2014, which appeared to discuss a media plan related to the lawsuit.
In emails, Sebert’s managers Vector Management’s Jack Rovner and Ken Levitan, along with Irving Azoff, who was chairman of parent company Live Nation at the time, appeared to discuss a plan to smear Gottwald’s reputation and “take down his business”, Variety reported.
In a statement released on Tuesday to Variety, Azoff said: “When I was Chairman of Live Nation, I was responsible for the management division which included Kesha’s managers. In May 2012, her managers, Jack and Ken, came to me as Kesha was in distress: she was trapped in a contract with a person she despised. I remember being shocked by the onerous creative control that was being spitefully inflicted on this young artist – from not allowing her to choose cover art or decide what songs went on her record. I jumped to her defense and I will always defend any artist from being mistreated.”
