Taylor Swift donates $250,000 to Kesha as ‘show of support’ in Dr. Luke legal battle

Pop star Taylor Swift has donated a quarter-million dollars to support singer Kesha’s ongoing legal efforts against a producer Kesha says drugged and raped her.

“In a show of support, Taylor Swift has donated $250,000 to Kesha to help with any of her financial needs during this trying time,” Swift’s representative said in a statement Sunday, confirming a tweet by Kesha’s mother, Pebe Sebert, saying, “Taylor Swift has just generously donated $250,000 to Kesha, as a show of support during this difficult time. AMAZING!!”

On Friday, Kesha, born Kesha Rose Sebert, 28, broke down at a New York Supreme Court hearing in Manhattan after Justice Shirley Kornreich ruled she must record six more contractually obligated albums to a record label owned by producer Dr. Luke. In October 2014, Kesha sued Dr. Luke, 42, born Lukasz Gottwald, alleging that for 10 years he “sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused [her] to the point where [she] nearly lost her life.”

Dr. Luke has denied the accusations and on Monday, the music producer took to Twitter to reject the singer’s accusations.

“I didn’t rape Kesha and I have never had sex with her,” Dr. Luke tweeted. “Kesha and I were friends for many years and she was like my little sister.”

The music producer went on to include copies of Kesha’s testimony in an unrelated 2011 lawsuit, in which she said “No” when asked whether she had had sexual relations with Dr. Luke.

After thanking his friends and family for their support, Dr. Luke sent one last tweet, saying: “This is an ongoing legal case so I won’t be responding / talking much about this. This should be tried in a court of law.”

SEE PHOTOSTaylor Swift through the years

Kesha’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, has said that the singer buckled under pressure from Dr. Luke. “As detailed in our complaint [in October 2014, Dr.] Luke walked Kesha down the beach and threatened to destroy Kesha’s life and the lives of her family if she didn’t cover up his sexual assaults in a 2011 deposition.”

In the complete deposition from the unrelated lawsuit, Kesha affirmed that she and Dr. Luke had shared a bed at least once but denied that the two had had an “intimate relationship.”

“Unfortunately, protecting abusers out of fear happens all too often with battered women,” Geragos said in 2014.

Also on Monday, Fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff and DJ Zedd tweeted offers to Kesha to produce new music with her.

On Friday, many fellow stars tweeted Kesha encouragement after the hearing, including Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga.

Yet singer Demi Lovato, who had issued a string of supportive tweets on Sunday, later that day obliquely criticized Swift’s largesse. “Take something to Capitol Hill,” she tweeted, “or actually speak out about something and then I’ll be impressed.” Lovato, 23, later confirmed the missive was directed at Swift, responding to an accusation by Instagram user “proudofswift” that Lovato had taken attention off Kesha’s efforts to promote herself.

“How . . . am I making it about myself?” Lovato replied to the since-privatized account, according to screengrabs posted on BuzzFeed.com. “At least I’m talking about it. Not everyone has 250K to just give to people. Would love to but I didn’t grow up with money” — a reference to Swift’s being the child of parents in the financial industry and a descendant of three generations of bank presidents — “and def haven’t made as much as her. At least I speak up about [expletive] that’s uncomfortable to talk about rather than trying to be politically correct 24/7.”

She added, “I didn’t shade Taylor. . . . I’m just tired of seeing women use ‘women empowerment’ and ‘feminism’ to further brands without actually being the ones that have the uncomfortable conversations.”