How #FreeKesha Became about Everyone Else

By Taylor Dashiell on February 28, 2016

theodesseyonline.com

It’s hard to have not heard about Kesha’s upsetting and ongoing legal battle. But for those not up to speed, Kesha is currently trying to break her contract with Sony Music in an effort to escape her alleged abuser, rapist, and producer Dr. Luke. Kesha has been with Sony since she signed to Dr. Luke’s label, Kemosabe Records, back in 2005 and now amid her sexual assault and battery allegations, has added a suit against Sony. The Hollywood Reporter quoted her lawyer as saying, “Dr. Luke’s proclivity for abusive conduct was open and obvious to [Sony Music Entertainment] executives, who either knew of the conduct and turned a blind eye, failed to investigate Dr. Luke’s conduct, failed to take any corrective action, or actively concealed Dr. Luke’s abuse”. Both statements were made after Kesha attended New York Fashion Week wearing a Discount Universe dress, with “You’ll Never Own Me” written across it. All pretty shady stuff, to say the least.

This past week, a New York judge’s decision ruled against Kesha, not allowing the temporary injunction against her contract so she can release music outside of her record label and more importantly, away from Dr. Luke. The backlash against Sony has been astounding, to the point where one of the company’s lawyers has since claimed that they want to support their artist in such a trying time, but cannot terminate the contract because it was not signed directly with them, but with Dr. Luke and Kemosabe Records.

As loyal fans do, Kesha’s supporters took to social media to express their outrage and disappointment in not only Sony but the justice system as well, and these sentiments have been cataloged under the hashtag “Free Kesha”.

But as with many high profile social justice issues, there have been moments of digression. Many celebrities have expressed their solidarity with Kesha over social media and in person, most recent being Adele during her acceptance speech at the Brit Awards and producers Zedd and Jack Antonoff offering to help her make and leak music. This support is wonderful, and Kesha has expressed so herself in a lengthy heartfelt post to Facebook, but other celebrities getting involved has also has its pitfalls. Demi Lovato expressed her stance on the issue via Twitter, and while most of her tweets were perfectly sound, one called suspicious attention to itself:

Buzzfeed.com

Many believed this to be a dig at Taylor Swift, who had not said anything on social media about the situation. Seeing as Lovato has had her own battles with big corporations and contracts, her passion about Kesha’s predicament is understandable. She also got into a heated discussion with a Swift fan on Instagram after Swift had donated $250,000 to Kesha’s cause, “Not everyone has 250k to just give to people…at least I speak up about shit that’s uncomfortable to talk about rather than trying to be politically correct 24/7.” Though Lovato has clarified her statement, apologizing for her quick tempered reactions and revealing that there is no wrong way to help someone in need, there is truth to what she is said. Some people stick their neck out, some don’t but want to be part of the movement. It can be polarizing. So polarizing that we now have a culture more focused on being on the “right” side of an issue instead of the actual issue. But as far as her comments go, how wise is it to make this already delicate situation about another celebrity? One who notoriously draws on feminism in arguably self-serving times  anyway?

Sadly, others have taken up this game of pointing fingers, trying to compare Kesha’s situation to other artists. Some have picked Zayn Malik, formally of One Direction, as their scapegoat, trying to draw the parallel to him leaving the band and their contract for “health reasons” to then turn around and officially go solo in less than a year. While others have brought up Rihanna’s domestic violence case against Chris Brown back in 2009, fuming that an abuser can have a thriving career, but Kesha can’t be free from her attacker. Other male celebrities have been mentioned in much of the same commentary. At the root of all the arguments is the belief that men have it easier in the music industry than women, and the points would be valid if the cases were anything alike. Zayn Malik, for his own reasons and probably a lot of legal help and loopholes, was able to get out of what was left of One Direction’s contract. The group is reportedly moving labels after their contract is up in March, so Malik probably had less to negotiate out of. Kesha still has six albums left on her contract with Dr. Luke.  Chris Brown on the other hand, plead guilty, served his community service and attended all his court appointed anger management courses, and spent two years on the radio blacklist. Though the industry was built by men and male artists may have an easier time navigating the internal structure of it, these two cases were not examples of that.

So even amidst the most publicly trying time in her life, Kesha has been overshadowed by others and irrelevant situations. A movement should not be about placing blame on others, nor should it be about trying to be on the “right” side of the issue in order to have good social standing. The enemy here is not even Sony, it is Kesha’s attacker Dr. Luke, but giving him a sliver of press as anything but an abuser is injustice to Kesha. So stop talking about him and his music. Stop talking about Demi vs. Taylor. Stop talking about Zayn Malik and Chris Brown. We shouldn’t even be talking about Adele. The one and only person we should be focused on, who needs and deserves all the love in the world right now is Kesha.

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