The show will go on after all. Kesha will be allowed to perform at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, May 22, Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records told Us Weekly in a statement on Thursday, May 19.
“Kesha’s performance on the Billboard Music Awards was always approved, in good faith,” the statement reads. “Approval was only suspended when Kemosabe learned Kesha was to use the performance as a platform to discuss the litigation. Now that Kemosabe has obtained assurances that it is relying upon from Kesha, her representatives and Dick Clark Productions that neither Kesha nor her supporters will use the performance as such a platform, the approval has been restored.”
Earlier in the week, Dick Clark Productions, which oversees the Billboard Music Awards, released a statement noting that Kemosabe Records, the label Kesha is signed to, had canceled the 29-year-old’s scheduled performance amid the singer and producer’s ongoing legal battle.
“Kesha accepted an invitation to perform on the show and she received written approval from Dr. Luke’s record label, Kemosabe Records,” Dick Clark Productions said in a statement. “Kemosabe subsequently rescinded its approval following a media report on Wednesday, May 11 regarding Kesha’s appearance on the Billboard Music Awards. Unfortunately, Kesha and Kemosabe have since been unable to come to an agreement for Kesha to perform on the show.”
As previously reported, the “Tik Tok” singer and her longtime producer, 42, have been locked in a heated legal battle since she alleged that Dr. Luke sexually abused her over the years.
A Manhattan judge ruled that Kesha would not be released from her contractual working obligations with Dr. Luke, as the singer had requested, and the hit maker has adamantly denied any claims of abuse.
“I didn’t rape Kesha and I have never had sex with her,” he tweeted on February 22. “Kesha and I were friends for many years and she was like my little sister.”
On Wednesday, May 18, Kesha took to Instagram to share her disappointment with Kemosabe’s initial Billboard performance suspension.
“I was very excited to perform a tribute to Bob Dylan by singing a cover of ‘It ain’t me, babe’ at the Billboard awards this year,” she wrote. “I’m very sad and sorry to say I won’t be allowed to do this. I just wanted to make very clear that this performance was about me honoring one of my favorite songwriters of all time and has never had anything at all to do with Dr. Luke. I was never going to use a picture of him, speak of him or allude to my legal situation in any way. I simply wanted to sing a song I love to honor an artist I have always looked up to. thank u all for the continued support.”
Later that day, the pop singer shared the stage with Ben Folds at his show at the Orpheum in Los Angeles to perform her Bob Dylan cover. She later thanked Folds, 49, for giving her the space to sing.
“Thanks for believing in me,” she captioned a photo of the musician wiping down a wine glass. “Thanks for being a positive and encouraging human in my life. thanks for ur records that got me through high school. … thanks for being a good friend in this scary business. and lastly. thanks for cleaning my wine glass with ur old man panties. ur an A class gentleman.”