The legal back-and-forth between Kesha and producer Dr. Luke continues, as the producer announced his move to sue the singer for defamation, over texts she sent to Lady Gaga about alleged sexual assault claims.

Kesha and Dr. Luke filed amended court papers following permission from the Supreme Court. The singer hopes this time around to be released from her contract with Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe records and Sony. Now, Dr. Luke is alleging Kesha and Lady Gaga had a text conversation in which claims were made that the producer raped Kesha and another unnamed artist.

In his new court claim, posted by The Hollywood Reporter, Dr. Luke says these text conversations led to a ‘smear campaign’, which saw Gaga seek to ruin the producer’s reputation.

“During this text message conversation, Kesha falsely and basely asserted that Kesha and another female recording artist… had both been raped by (Dr. Luke),” the complaint reads. “Kesha’s assertions to Lady Gaga were completely false.” The complaint continues to claim Dr. Luke “did not rape Kesha, and he did not rape the other recording artist”, adding “Kesha was (and is) well aware Gottwald never raped Kesha. Kesha has no basis or justification whatsoever to falsely assert that Gottwald raped the other recording artist.”

The complaint then references Lady Gaga: “Since this text message conversation, Lady Gaga has spread negative messages about Gottwald in the press. Indeed, Lady Gaga has gone so far as to suggest during a radio interview that she possesses secret information regarding Gottwald that is damaging to him. Lady Gaga’s statements during this radio interview were thereafter repeated and spread widely by many international media outlets.”

Lady Gaga has publicly spoken out in support of Kesha, challenging the victim-blaming she has suffered. Her 2009 track “Swine” was about her own raped when she was 19, and she’s spoken candidly about her battle with PTSD following the attack. 

“Kesha did not have any economic motivation for making these false assertions to Lady Gaga. Rather, Kesha made these statements as revenge for losing her injunction motion and for the purpose of furthering her malicious plan to destroy Plaintiffs,” the claim continues. “As Lady Gaga observed in this text message conversation, “it will NOT be easy for” her (i.e., the other recording artist) or any artist to work with him (i.e. Gottwald) after this.”

It was back in 2014 that Kesha first made her accusations of rape and abuse against the producer public. After suing him, Dr. Luke countersued Kesha for defamation. In February 2016 she was denied the opportunity to sign to another label under a preliminary injunction, and in April 2016, her case was dismissed and she dropped the suit. She now has a new legal team in this fresh pursuit.

In Kesha’s new amended claims, she asserts that Dr. Luke’s case “is not about money or business. It is a vendetta against Kesha”, adding: “You can get a divorce from an abusive spouse. You can dissolve a partnership if the relationship becomes irreconcilable. The same opportunity – to be liberated from the physical, emotional, and financial bondage of a destructive relationship – should be available to a recording artist.”

Kesha’s counterclaim details that if the case against her was won, she would be left penniless by the damage payouts. Her claim also draws attention to Dr. Luke’s contract with Sony, which expires in March. “Without the court’s intervention and Sony’s facilitation, Kesha will remain contractually bound to Dr. Luke until she releases three additional albums, each containing six songs produced individually by Dr. Luke, no matter how many years that takes,” according the complaint.

Christine Lepera, from Dr. Luke’s legal team, told Pitchfork: “Dr. Luke seeks to add an additional defamation claim against Kesha based upon the discovery of another false and defamatory statement she made about him that was part of her calculated effort to harm his reputation and business.

“Kesha’s new proposed counterclaim simply repeats the meritless and untrue allegations that were set forth in her earlier pleadings and which Dr. Luke fully disputes.”

Kesha has a court date set for her deposition (an interview under oath) on February 7, and Dr. Luke is in on February 14.