Kesha Slammed as "Abusive" by Former Manager

In an interesting twist to the long, drawn-out lawsuit between Kesha and her former producer and manager Dr. Luke, the 'Tik Tok' singer has been accused of being "abusive", "crazy" and of acting like someone who's on drugs in old e-mails from her former manager leaked by Luke's legal team.

In a brief recap to the neverending saga, Kesha was denied the ability to leave her record contract with RCA Records in courts last year, effectively tying her to Dr. Luke, the producer behind her biggest hits who she has accused of verbal and sexual assault. While Kesha has appealed the ruling, Luke has since asked the judge to add a defamation clause against her over some text messages she sent to friend Lady Gaga, in which she apparently stated that another female popstar had also been raped by Luke. In response, Kesha's legal team stated that Luke is blocking her from releasing new music and is withholding money she is owed, while Luke in turn claimed that she owed him $1.3 million in royalties. In a further attempt to prove her case of verbal abuse, Kesha hit back by releasing e-mails between Luke and her former manager Monica Cornia where he alleges that A-List producers were turning down work with her due to her weight and says "I don't give a shit what you want".

Still with us? Good. Because here comes the plot twist:

Retaliating to Kesha's leaks, Dr. Luke's legal team filed into evidence their own set of e-mails sent from her team to Luke back in 2010. One e-mail, sent from Kesha's road manager Emily Burton, alleges verbal abuse:

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She came downstairs (45 minutes late) and pulled me out of the van to scream at me while sobbing saying ‘there is a time and place and it isn’t 7:30 in the morning! I need y’all to help me here. At least talk to her. I know she is crazy but she is also abusive and ignorant of my role…She can be such a kid but a kid off her rocker is the worst kind of kid. Help. How can I get out of here sooner than was planned?

In another leaked e-mail with the subject line "Heads rolling", Burton discusses some firings that Kesha had authorised, saying, "K$ now in a really cut throat mood." In response, Jack Royner, co-president of Vector Management, states, “she really sounds like someone who is doing drugs. so erratic. a couple of hours all is going well now she wants to dump the whole lot. this doesn’t feel right even with kesha standards.”

Another member of Kesha's management team writes "she is is nuts". Kesha's manager, Nicki Loranger, writes to Royner about needing “to have a larger conversation with you about Kesha” and how she “abuses the shit out of [Tessa, Kesha’s personal assistant], but it is totally not working. She can’t control Kesha at all, everyone in the crew and band are calling me complaining, Kesha’s basically just gone rogue." Royner responds, "it was worth putting up with her complete insanity when she was a big money earner. it’s def not now."

In a strange attempt to reinvent his image into that of a cute and cuddly teddy bear, Luke's legal team also included e-mails he sent to Kesha suggesting that she should head back into rehab for a "tune up". "I know you said you looked like a lesbo but i disagree - you looked radiant and beautiful,” he wrote to the LGBT rights activist. "You’re doing exactly what you’re meant to be doing right now. You’re actualizing your dreams. I’m proud of you and love you very much! xo L."

While the e-mails are hardly proof of innocence one way or another, they do provide a new perspective on the singer who has up until this point been painted purely as a victim. For her part, Burton (who accused Kesha of abuse) has never confronted her in court and does not seem to have encouraged the leaking of the e-mails.

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