Loyola students to rally in support of #FreeKesha at singer’s concert Friday

SHARE Loyola students to rally in support of #FreeKesha at singer’s concert Friday

Embattled singer-songwriter Kesha is scheduled to perform at Loyola University’s Gentile Arena on the school’s Lake Shore campus in Rogers Park at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 as part of its Colossus 2016 lineup (which also features comedian Nick Offerman on Feb. 27). Tickets to both shows (18+over)  are available at www.luc.edu/dop2016

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A whirlwind of controversy is surrounding the appearance, due to the singer’s ongoing legal battle with her producer, hitmaker Dr. Luke, following a 2014 lawsuit against him in which Kesha alleges “sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, unfair business practices, and infliction of emotional distress,” and asks that she be released from her contract with him. The singer was countersued by Dr. Luke for alleged breach of contract.  The singer entered re-hab in 2014 for an eating disorder, which she claims resulted from the alleged abuse.

Last Friday, a New York supreme court ruling denied the singer’s request for “an immediate injunction that would allow her to begin to record without Dr. Luke.”

According to the Associated Press:

Watching tearfully from a courtroom audience, pop star Kesha lost a bid Friday to be freed from her contract with a top record producer she says drugged, sexually abused and psychologically tormented her. But the ruling doesn’t end the platinum-selling singer’s clash with hitmaker Dr. Luke, who denies her claims and says she’s smearing him to try to shirk her contract. Friday’s decision wasn’t the final word on their court fight in New York, to say nothing of related lawsuits in California and Tennessee.

To show their support for the singer, Loyola students are planning a “We Support Kesha” rally outside the concert venue prior to the show at 5:45 p.m. Friday. According to the rally organizers’ Facebook page:

Come out to protest rape culture and show your support for Kesha! Wear teal (the official color for sexual violence awareness), and make posters with supportive words (Free Kesha, Solidarity with Kesha, Loyola Loves Kesha, etc.). The action will take place on the quad just outside Gentile Arena. If you bought tickets to her show, bring the good vibes in with you! However, posters will not be allowed into the concert, as requested by Kesha’s management. And if you can’t make the concert, there are other ways to show support, especially by making posters for outside Gentile. And please, use the hashtag #loyolawithkesha when posting about this event, or posting articles relevant to Kesha’s court case.

According to the AP story:

I cannot work with this monster, Kesha said in a sworn statement in August that accused Dr. Luke of raping her a decade ago after giving her a pill that knocked her out, browbeating her to lose weight to the point where she didn’t eat solid food for eight days, and holding her career hostage because she spoke up.

“All of their horrific allegations of abuse, threats and other purported misconduct by me against Kesha are completely untrue and deeply hurtful,” Dr. Luke said in a sworn statement in December, according to the same AP report. Dr. Luke has not been charged with any crime, and his lawyer, Christine Lepera, says “he wants his name restored.”

Contributing: Associated Press

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