Kesha celebrated finally leaving Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald‘s record label with no clothes! The “Praying” singer, 36, got naked and went skinny dipping in an Instagram photo that she shared on December 18, after news broke that she parted ways with her former producer and label owner Dr. Luke, 50, who she accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit that was settled out of court in June.
In the photo, Kesha was nude and faced away from the camera towards mountains in a valley. She stood in the water and touched her hair in the gorgeous setting. “Coming back home to me ❤️,” Kesha captioned her post.
Before Kesha shared the nude photo, Variety reported that the singer ended her deal with Dr. Luke’s label, Kemosabe, which is distributed by Sony’s RCA Records, and “amicably” parted ways with her management company, Vector Management. Kesha released five albums and three EPs under her former label. Her final contractual album with Kemosabe was Gag Order, which was released in May.
Kesha spent years trying to be freed from her music label amidst her legal battle with Dr. Luke. In 2014, the “Die Young” hitmaker filed a civil suit against her former mentor and producer and accused him of drugging and raping her in 2005, as well as physically and verbally abusing her. Dr. Luke adamantly denied the allegations and sued her for defamation, claiming that Kesha made the “false and shocking” accusation to get out of her record contract. He later claimed that the allegations cost him a whopping $46 million.
In 2016, a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed Kesha’s efforts to be released from her record contract with Sony and Dr. Luke. Two months later, her rape claims were dismissed because the alleged assault occurred outside of New York and the statute of limitations expired, per NBC News. In 2020, a New York judge ruled that Kesha did defame Dr. Luke after she told Lady Gaga that he also raped Katy Perry.
Kesha and Dr. Luke settled their legal battle after nine years in June 2023. “Only God knows what happened that night. As I have always said, I cannot recount everything that happened,” Kesha said in a statement. “I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved.”