Kesha may not have won a Grammy last night, but she definitely won the Grammys, so to speak. Her performance of โPrayingโ was so deeply moving, it left everyone shook, including her label, Sony Music. In a profound display of female solidarity, she was joined onstage by Cyndi Lauper, Julia Michaels, Andra Day, Camila Cabello, and Bebe Rexha. The power ballad was inspired by the singerโs alleged rape and sexual assault at the hands of producer Dr. Luke, for which she attempted to sue him in 2014. However, the labelโs attempt to congratulate Kesha for her performance was met with some serious resistance on Twitter, given Sony Musicโs vague stance in Keshaโs legal battle.
The label tweeted, with a photo of the performance, โNo words. All love. #GRAMMYS,โ which had a ton of people on Twitter like, TF? Fans wasted no time calling out the label for allegedly talking out of both sides of its mouth, leading to the tweet getting deleted. Others revived #FreeKesha, a hashtag thatโs previously been used to advocate for the singerโs liberation from her contract.
In a 2015 lawsuit,ย Kesha accused Sony Music of complicity,ย claiming label executivesย โeither knew of the conduct and turned a blind eye, failed to investigate Dr. Lukeโs conduct, failed to take any corrective action, or actively concealed Dr. Lukeโs abuse.โ Theย label has saidย it โwas not in a position to terminate the contractual agreement with Dr. Luke and Kesha.โ (Insert side-eye here.) Whatโs worse, the producer is said to still be cashing in on his company's stake in the publishing rights toย Keshaโsย work.ย
Itโs worth noting that Dr. Luke denied Keshaโs allegations and countersued the artist for defamation. In 2016, Kesha dropped the suit, through which she had sought to exit her contract with Dr. Luke and Sony Music. โPrayingโ was her first single since the bitter legal battle. It earned Kesha her first Grammy nominations, including one Best Pop Solo Performance. Ed Sheeran ended up taking home the award for โShape of You,โ which, while a catchy tune, is basically about a dude in a club obsessing over some girlโs body. In the wake of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, and Kesha'sย incredible performance, her snub seemed rather tone-def. Pun intended. No offense, Ed.
