Last month, as the scandal regarding rape, abuse and drugging allegations against producer Dr. Luke by recording artist Kesha played out, fellow female pop star Kelly Clarkson released a cryptic tweet that implied she also had a negative experience while working with Luke. Now, in a new interview, Clarkson has explained her prior statement about the producer in more detail, supporting some of Kesha's claims about his character.
Observers had been wondering why Clarkson hadn't weighed in on the matter, because Luke had produced her breakthrough number one hit "Since U Been Gone," now considered her signature song, along with another chart success, "Behind These Hazel Eyes."
As Kesha and her record label Sony were battling it out in court, Clarkson, who records for RCA, finally tweeted the following about the matter: "Trying 2 not say anything since I can't say anything nice about a person ... so this is me not talking about Dr. Luke."
Of course, the tweet was in fact her way of slyly talking about Luke, with whom she had worked early in her career.
Now, in a new interview, Clarkson has gone into depth about her relationship with Luke. She claims that the producer is "not a good person" and that she was forced by her label into recording with him. Clarkson said that RCA had insisted that she work with the producer, or else they would not release her album.
"The last time I worked with him I only worked with him because literally I got blackmailed by my label," claims Clarkson. "It was a really hard time for me. They were like, 'We will not put your album out if you don't do this.'"
Clarkson said she acquiesced because she was concerned that her touring crew and others counting on her would be adversely affected if the label followed through with its threats. As for Kesha's claims of drugging and rape, Clarkson admits that Luke "never did anything like that" to her, but did state that he was difficult to work with due to his "demeaning" approach, and that other artists concurred.
"Unfortunately when you have that poor a character that so many artists don't like you, that's not normal. Obviously he's a talented dude but he's lied a lot. Musically it's been really hard for me because he will just lie to people and it makes the artist look bad," said Clarkson.
While a slew of Kesha's fellow pop stars, including Adele, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, have publicly shown their support for the embattled singer, none of the many recording artists that Dr. Luke has worked with over the years have spoken out on his behalf.
