Katy Perry’s working relationship with the controversial producer Dr. Luke is her most fruitful creative partnership. The massively successful industry veteran produced the pop star’s first No. 1 single, “I Kissed a Girl,” and a number of Billboard-topping hits off her second album, Teenage Dream, including the title track, “California Gurls,” “E.T.,” and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).” It’s only natural that Perry would enlist Dr. Luke for her sixth album and attempted comeback to the commercial field she once dominated. Who better, in her eyes at least, to be the lodestar pointing her to days when all you could hear when you turned on the radio was a song off Teenage Dream and the name you kept seeing on the Hot 100 in 2010 was Katy Perry?
All that achievement doesn’t take into account the Dr. Luke of 2024, who has been sued for sexual assault and battery. (Even if people like Kim Petras, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, City Girls, Lil Durk, and more still work with him.) In 2014, fellow pop star Kesha filed an explosive lawsuit against Dr. Luke, accusing him of drugging and sexually abusing her. Kesha also claims she suffered emotional and psychological abuse at his hands. Below, Perry’s recent history with Dr. Luke ahead of the release of her upcoming album, 143, on September 20.
August 28, 2018: Following Kesha’s lawsuit against Dr. Luke, the producer takes the “Tik Tok” singer to court for defamation claims. In court testimony, Perry denies the allegations that Dr. Luke raped her, calling them “outrageous and untrue.” The claims stem from a 2016 text Kesha allegedly sent to Lady Gaga where she said he raped Perry. Representatives for Kesha deny that she was spreading false rumors.
February 7, 2020: A New York Supreme Court judge rules that Kesha defamed Dr. Luke when she claimed Dr. Luke raped Perry. “Perry unequivocally testified that Gottwald did not [rape her]. In response, Kesha has not raised a triable issue,” Judge Jennifer G. Schecter says. “There is no evidence whatsoever that Gottwald raped Katy Perry, or that Katy Perry, whose sworn testimony is unrefuted, must not be believed.”
June 19, 2024: Perry announces that she will collaborate with Dr. Luke and Max Martin for her upcoming album. “Katy knew exactly the album she wanted to make and put together the team to make it happen,” a Capitol Records source confirms to Rolling Stone. “And that includes previous collaborators including Luke, Stargate, Max Martin, and Sarah Hudson, and some new heavy hitters such as Vaughn Oliver, Rocco Valdes, and Theron Thomas.” The singer teases a 15-second snippet of the song on TikTok and Instagram. Titled “Woman’s World,” the track aims to be a female-empowerment anthem à la 2010s white feminism.
Kesha all but rolls her eyes at the news. She simply tweets, “lol.”
lol
— kesha (@KeshaRose) June 17, 2024
July 11, 2024: Perry releases “Woman’s World.” Vulture writer Justin Curto argues the song “takes a level of cognitive dissonance to sing about strength and sisterhood over a beat co-produced by an alleged rapist.”
Abigail Breslin, known for her roles in Little Miss Sunshine and Miranda’s Victim, thinks Perry’s decision to work with Dr. Luke is more than problematic. “I’m just saying… working with known abusers in any industry just contributes to the narrative that men can do abhorrent shit and get away with it,” she tweets. “On another note, I love @KeshaRose and she gave one of the best shows ive ever been to last year <3 stream Kesha!”
I'm just saying... working with known abusers in any industry just contributes to the narrative that men can do abhorrent shit and get away with it. On another note, I love @KeshaRose and she gave one of the best shows ive ever been to last year <3 stream Kesha!
— Abigail Breslin (SOPHOMORE) (@yoabbaabba) July 11, 2024
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