Free Kesha

If you don't have social media, you won't have been exposed to the outrage that erupted across all platforms regarding yesterday's court case result in regards to the situation between Kesha, Sony and her producer, Dr Luke. 

To cut a long story short for you all, the scenario is this. Kesha had inexplicably gone from producing hit after hit to making absolutely no music for two years. Fans questioned why, and when she came out with an answer it was down to the fact that her producer, Dr Luke, had drugged her and raped her. Of course, Sony and Dr Luke denied this allegation and it has been taken to court. Yesterday, the judge gave the verdict that Kesha could not leave her contract with Sony and must continue to make a further six albums with Dr Luke, her rapist. If she uses another producer, Sony will refuse to promote her- effectively, ending her career. 

It's horrific, right?

Now, some people have said "What about him? What if he's innocent?" 

But in my opinion what about Kesha? Why would she lie about this, and ruin her career which was really taking off and peaking? Why would she lie about being raped full stop? I just can't believe that she would. Her career has ended for two years now, and after being in the charts continuously and gathering some pretty good success, I refuse to believe she ended her career two years ago out of her own choice to stop singing. Something must have happened to make her want to stop. 

Oh yeah, it did. She was raped.

It makes me feel sick to my stomach that this is the kind of society we live in today- where someone confesses to being raped and the law gets to decide if they are telling the truth or not. Yet sadly, it is something that happens every single day to hundreds of men and women, not just Kesha. 

My heart breaks for Kesha now, it really does. To be confronted with the fact that she must make another six albums with a man who raped her is absolutely crazy, and such a huge number. A lot of artists don't even manage six albums throughout their whole career! It will take years to produce that much work. So for years, Kesha will have to face her rapist.

I can't believe that Sony could be so heartless. If anything they could have just made this easy for themselves and let her go- but now they're not only forcing someone into working with their rapist, they're having their name dragged through the mud. This could have been avoided if they'd just listened to Kesha and cut her free from her contract. 

Furthermore, I'm angry at the female celebrities that claim to be firm feminists but have not spoken up on the situation. A few have said kind words, such as Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga, but for other people, such as the Queen's of feminism (apparently) Taylor Swift and Emma Watson, not one word has been said. They are all set to show off the fact that they care about women's rights, but when it really comes down to it they won't speak out when it matters most. It sickens me. 

All that anyone can continue to do now is keep this issue at the forefront of the news. We can't let this story fade away and be so quickly forgotten about. We must keep it fresh and present in everyone's minds, reminding everyone of this injustice- again, one that is not faced by Kesha alone but is faced by hundreds of people every single day. 

Rape is not okay. Rape is never okay. It doesn't matter if you're drunk, if you're wearing hotpants, if you're a boy or a girl- none of that is relevant. Rape is never okay. 

The fact that it's 2016 and we still have to try and drum this message into people's minds is disgusting. All I can hope is that one day soon, Kesha will be freed from her contract and also, hopefully, we will start to see rape crimes drop, rape victims be believed more and receive more support and for rapists to receive worse punishments than they currently do. 

Rape is never okay. 

Love from,

Florence Grace

Like this post? Try...  Feminism and me | Feel good or feel safe? | Women, the media and sex

Images used in this post sourced via Twitter.