25 February 2016
Newsdesk
Lady Gaga has chastised social media users for posting negative comments about Kesha's ongoing sexual assault lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke, urging them to stop victim-shaming.
The Tik Tok star lost her battle against the producer last week (19Feb16), when a New York judge ruled the singer could not terminate the contract she signed with Dr. Luke and Sony Music bosses a decade ago, despite the fact she's suing the hitmaker, claiming he sexually and emotionally abused her.
Kesha has received an outpouring of support from fans and celebrities alike since the verdict, with Reese Witherspoon, Anne Hathaway, Lena Dunham, Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift, and Adele all publicly backing the 28-year-old.
Lady Gaga has also joined the #FreeKesha movement on social media by sharing photos of the pals online.
Shortly after last week's ruling, she took to Twitter to express her support and wrote, "There are people all over the world who love you @KeshaRose. And I can say truly I am in awe of your bravery."
The Born This Way superstar, who opened up last year (15) about her own teenage rape ordeal, also consoled Kesha in person on Wednesday (24Feb16), and she shared images of the get-together on Instagram and Snapchat.
However, when some people began criticising Kesha, one fan, using the handle @tropicarly, expressed her disappointment at all of the negativity.
"of course I am saddened by what's happening with Kesha, but what makes me more sad is the comments on this photo," the follower wrote. "I can't believe how many people don't understand rape culture and how it is slyly embedded in our society."
Her heartfelt comment caught Lady Gaga's attention and the Grammy winner responded to the fan with a lengthy post of her own.
"This is the most upsetting part for me," she wrote. "That (sic) the very reason women don't speak up for years is the fear no one will believe them or their abuser has threatened their life or life of their loved ones/livelihood in order to keep their victim quiet and under their control."
Touching on her own troubled past, Gaga continued to question the critics and attack the abusers.
"What happened to Kesha has happened to many female artists including myself and it will affect her for the rest of her life," she continued.
"No one needs to validate Kesha. Why is victim always the 'liar' why do we let people in a position of power get away with behaving in humanely? These guys hide behind the legal system and its their litigious behavior that is precisely what they use to rape these girls. 'Give me what I want or else I will come after you' and they have all the money and the resources to do it."
Dr. Luke has always denied Kesha's allegations and is determined to continue fighting to clear his name.
"Kesha and I made a lot of songs together and it was often good but there were creative differences at times," he wrote on Twitter.com on Monday (22Feb16). "It's sad that she would turn a contract negotiation into something so horrendous and untrue. But I feel confident when this is over the lies will be exposed and the truth will prevail."
