Kesha Contract Dispute Double Standard

New York Supreme Court justice Shirley Kornreich handed down her decision on Friday, February 19th, that pop singer Kesha must continue producing albums with a man who allegedly raped her.

Producer, Dr. Luke, has denied the accusations, and thinks that Kesha is looking for a way to get out of her 6 album contract with Sony. Although Kesha and her lawyer made some promising points about Kesha’s safety, Kornreich was skeptical. According to reporter Emily Crockett from Vox Culture, Kornreich said,”You’re asking the court … to decimate a contract which was heavily negotiated and signed by two parties in an industry where these kinds of contacts are typical,” she said. “It’s not in [the company’s] best interest to not make money and not promote a recording artist.” 

Although I understand that a lot goes into the formation of a contract, it still feels completely unfair for Kesha to be forced into this contract when this man has allegedly abused her in such a way. When a woman is sexually abused, the first thing she should be granted is space away from her alleged abuser, not a mandate to continue working with him.

It must have been difficult for Kesha to come forward in the first place.

People wonder why girls who have been raped have so much trouble coming out about what has happened to them. It’s because they know that no one will support them and that they will receive more hate rather than the help and love that they really need.

There has also been a lot of hate from people who think that Kesha is just doing this for attention. There are so many other things that Kesha could be doing for attention.  This seems far fetched.  Additionally, her current contract is incredibly lucrative, so why would she lie to get out of it?

The fact that people are doubting Kesha and saying that she would do something like this simply for attention is horrific. This simply reinforces a culture where victims are encouraged to stay silent.

The case represents a double standard. While Zayn Malik was so quickly able to liberate himself from One Direction, someone like Kesha can’t get out of a contract even when the circumstance put her well being in jeopardy.

Shouldn’t her safety be more important than the rules of the contract? If people actually care more about this contract than the people involved in it, then there is a bigger problem here.