previous/fedebbd

Lady Gaga's Heated Deposition Unsealed in Kesha's Legal Battle with Dr. Luke: 'Do You Know What It's Like for Survivors?'

Home / The Law / Lady Gaga's Heated Deposition Unsealed in Kesha's Legal Battle with Dr. Luke: 'Do You Know What It's Like for Survivors?'

By TheBlast Staff on January 29, 2019 at 6:53 PM PST

Lady Gaga was fiercely protective of Kesha while being deposed as part of the legal battle with Dr. Luke and things got so heated at one point that Gaga told his lawyer she "should be ashamed" of herself.

According to court documents recently unsealed in the never-ending legal battle between Kesha and Dr. Luke, Lady Gaga battled it out with Luke’s lawyers during a heated deposition, which had been heavily redacted until Tuesday.

The deposition, which took place in September 2017, began with Gaga’s lawyer informing Luke’s lawyer that the pop star was ready to testify but wanted them to be aware Gaga was a sex abuse survivor and was experiencing PTSD reactions which caused her some trauma and emotional reactions prior to the depo.

Article continues below advertisement

"I just want everyone to understand that, as she has publicly stated in other contexts, as a sex abuse survivor, and I know this from my own personal experience with family members, there are trigger events, and this deposition has proved to be a trigger event for Ms. Germanotta," her lawyer began.

"And she has experienced in the past few hours some PTSD reactions which is causing some trauma and emotional reactivity. So she is crying now the record will reflect," the lawyer added.

During the depo, Lady Gaga explained how she first met Kesha at Luke’s home studio while Kesha was in a back room with only underwear on. She details how Kesha confided in her over the years of the alleged abuse by Dr. Luke and she wanted to be there for her, since she knew what it was like to be a survivor.

Article continues below advertisement

Gaga was then questioned about the details of the first conversation where Kesha told her about the alleged abuse but the singer told Luke’s lawyer she could not recall the specifics. She said, "What we discussed was, what I recall was her immense sadness and depression and fear. She was visibly very different than when I had seen her before, and – but I can’t say specifically what we spoke about. I just recall it was emotional and I wanted to be there for her."

Article continues below advertisement

Things then started to get heated when Luke’s lawyer begins to question Gaga on whether she believes being accused of rape has damaged the producer's reputation. Gaga answered, “Reputation, if you are asking about his reputation in the world, I don’t feel at liberty to speak for the entire world. So if you are asking what my view is of his reputation, I made my view of him and his reputation when I saw her in that back room. That was an image that – of something that happened to me, and I felt and knew in my heart that she was telling the truth, and I believe her."

Article continues below advertisement
Lady Gaga doc rip
Article continues below advertisement

TheBlast.com

Luke’s lawyer then asked, “With respect to Mr. Gottwald himself, you have absolutely no personal knowledge or information as to any interaction between him and Ms. Sebert, correct, physical or otherwise?”

Gaga replied, “Yes, I do have knowledge.”

The lawyer asked her to explain and Gaga revealed, “She told me he assaulted her.” The lawyer asked if she had nothing other than what Kesha told her, to which the singer then responded, “Well, you know – when men assault women, they don’t invite people over to watch.”

Lady Gaga continued, “And when this happens in this industry, it is kept extremely secret, and it is compounded by contracts and manipulative power scenarios that actually include this very situation that we are all in right now.”

The lawyer went in to ask, “But, again, there are people that are falsely accused of rape, aren't there? You think there has never been a false accusation of rape?”

At that point, Gaga was clearly not appreciating the line of questions and said to the female lawyer questioning her, “You – how about all of the women that are accused of being liars and how she was slut shamed in front of the world, how about that?"

Article continues below advertisement
Lady Gaga doc rip

TheBlast.com

The lawyer rephrased her question to ask what happens when it’s a he-said/she-said situation.

Gaga responded, “I believe it to be true.”

She continued, “I have factual knowledge of her depression. I have factual knowledge of her need for support and love. I have factual knowledge of the spiral that I watched that girl go down. I have factual knowledge of trauma. I am informed and intelligent about this issue. That girl has experienced serious trauma and she is in the middle of the right now. And you are all a party to it.”

Article continues below advertisement
Lady gaga doc rip

TheBlast.com

Gaga added, “Why on earth would this girl tell the entire world this happened? Why on earth? Do you know what it’s like for survivors? Do you know what it’s like to tell people? Don’t you roll you eyes at me. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

At that point, everyone agreed to take a break and the depo continued with more questioning.

The legal battle is ongoing.

Article continues below advertisement