Kesha Should Be Hailed As A Pioneer

[DiscoHeaven23 35,007]

The initial report on Harvey Weinstein was published by The New York Times on October 5, 2017. 

It was the publication of this piece, shortly followed by Ronan Farrow's piece in The New Yorker on October 10th, that led to the revelations of specific men in Hollywood and other places sexually harassing others (though, sexual harassment of women has been well known throughout society). The flood gates have now been open and it seems like every day there's a new celebrity being accused of sexual harassment and/or rape. 

But to truly understand famous women (and some men) coming forward, one has to look back in time at Kesha's case. 

 

On October 14, 2014 TMZ broke the news that Kesha had filed a lawsuit against Dr. Luke. The lawsuit said that Dr. Luke made unwanted sexual advances, drugged her, and raped her. Dr. Luke was Kesha's label head and controlled her music career. It was clear that he could destroy her. 

This lawsuit followed Kesha's time spent in rehab for an eating disorder, which TMZ first reported on, on January 3, 2014. Kesha claimed in her lawsuit that Dr. Luke caused her to develop an eating disorder. 

 

By filing this lawsuit Kesha was putting her whole career in jeopardy. There was no precedence of a celebrity of Kesha's caliber doing this. She had no way of knowing how it would all turn out. 

The fight dragged on.

 

On February 16, 2016, Kesha appeared in New York Court where a judge "denied her request for a preliminary injunction that would have temporarily lifted her contract with Sony Records and freed her from working for Dr. Luke". 

 

After the ruling video caught Kesha sobbing in the courtroom. It was clear to Kesha that she wouldn't be releasing music any time soon. This led to the #FreeKesha movement. 

 

 

On April 25, 2017, news broke that Sony had dropped Dr. Luke as the CEO of Kemosabe Records, the record label that Kesha was signed under. This didn't mean that the link between Dr. Luke and Kesha was broken. She still had a contract with him and he would continue to make profits off of her.

 

On July 5th, Kesha announced that her lead single to her new album would be released the next day. 

The next day it was announced that she would be releasing her first album in 5 years, called Rainbow. The details are still unclear of how Kesha came to an agreement to be able to release new music that would be promoted by Sony.

 

"Praying" became a success on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 21 weeks and flourished on radio, reaching a peak of 9 on Pop Radio and a peak of 6 on Adult Pop Radio. Rainbow debuted at #1, becoming her second #1 album. 

 

Kesha's success and story served as an example to other Hollywood men and women that their careers could be safe if they came forward with their experiences. And they have come forward. The timing of this all coming out just after Kesha's success can't be a coincidence. 

 

It's so important that society doesn't forget the contribution Kesha made to this #MeToo movement. 

 

 

[LittleMonster20 9,858]

Agreed❤️

[prince 4,688]

She should have been on the Time cover

[Laceface 2,964]

Yes! She's fantastic 

[Epione 10,896]

 

[ryanripley 86,575]

i agree 100%

[Lucas 27,059]

Yet her fight is berely acknowledged by medias... Sad. Kesha is strong

[AlexanderMagno 10,746]

I must agree.

People are hailing Hollywood stars because they are more glamorous than trashy Kesha. But Kesha really was the first one to come forward in a big way. Yet no one's analysing it.

[Meredith Grey 3,155]

She deserves so much more recognition for what she's doing

[juju 18,907]

Her rise is truly unparalleled, her comeback honestly was one of the most amazing comebacks in pop culture history.

[Miel 15,009]

I definitely agree. She put the spotlight on these cases in the context of the music and movie industry, as of recently.

I feel like people don't really give Gaga or Kesha enough credit for this. Not that they need credit, but the truth is, is that they were very essential figures in helping open this conversation.

[androiduser 7,438]

2 minutes ago, Miel said:

I definitely agree. She put the spotlight on these cases in the context of the music and movie industry, as of recently.

I feel like people don't really give Gaga or Kesha enough credit for this. Not that they need credit, but the truth is, is that they were very essential figures in helping open this conversation.

Gaga's involvement is NOT the same as she was working with abusers and promoting them as positive role models in the media, sorry, but that's the truth

[ALGAYDO 32,658]

I’m still bitter than Taylor got the spot on TIME’s people of the year, yet Kesha was paid dust. Sad. 

[Miel 15,009]

5 minutes ago, androiduser said:

Gaga's involvement is NOT the same as she was working with abusers and promoting them as positive role models in the media, sorry, but that's the truth

I'm speaking specifically about her work with TIHTY and Biden and sexual assault on college campuses.

I'm not going to disagree because yeah, I'm still really disappointed that she hasn't said anything about Richardson or Kelly as of yet.

[StrawberryBlond 14,866]

You took the words right out of my mouth. I have been appalled at the fact that she's been completely erased from the mentions of women who have come forward. If it was just something that was happening in Hollywood, I'd at least understand it, but these accusations have been across the board, the industry you're in is irrelevant. Throughout the whole fall-out, I wondered why no one was bringing her up because she was technically the one who started it all. And the sad thing was, she had to fight so hard to be believed (many still don't), she was a lone wolf struggling to be taken seriously and even her fans thought her career was going to be over because of it. We didn't think there could be another way, it just wasn't possible for a woman to speak out against a powerful man and still be successful afterwards. But Kesha's now showing that it can indeed be done and the rest of Hollywood followed a few months later. She was the catalyst and really needs credit. I hope she'll achieve it some day. Maybe with a few more years of success, she'll truly "earn" that right in the eyes of the world.