Lady Gaga to be deposed in Dr. Luke-Kesha defamation case

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Lady Gaga will submit to a deposition in the ongoing legal battle between producer Dr. Luke and pop singer Kesha, Variety has confirmed.

Dr. Luke is suing Kesha for defamation, the latest in an ugly legal battle that began in 2014 when the pop star went public with claims that the producer had abused her. That year, Luke filed a complaint against Kesha for failing to work on a third album as required under her contract. Kesha filed a countersuit, seeking to be released from the contract on the basis of allegations that Dr. Luke had raped her and verbally abused her over the course of several years.

The motion to subpoena Gaga was made by Dr. Luke's team in regards to a text exchange between Gaga and Kesha, the messages of which, according to an insider, could work in Luke's favor.

Gaga is expected to be deposed next month. Image: Getty

Gaga is expected to be deposed next month. An interview session conducted by attorneys could last several hours.

A rep for Gaga could not be reached for comment, but in July, gave Variety the following statement: "As Lady Gaga's legal team will present to the court, she has provided all of the relevant information in her possession and is at most an ancillary witness in this process. Dr. Luke's team is attempting to manipulate the truth and draw press attention to their case by exaggerating Lady Gaga's role and falsely accusing her of dodging reasonable requests."

This was in response to Luke's lawyers having "served a subpoena on Lady Gaga because she has relevant information regarding, among other things, false statements about Dr. Luke made to her by Kesha. This motion has become necessary because Dr. Luke's counsel has not been able to obtain, despite repeated request, a deposition date from Lady Gaga."

Gaga will be represented by a litigation attorney when she appears at the deposition.

Dr. Luke previously sued Kesha's mother Pebe Sebert for defamation in 2014 and 2016, but dropped the suits in June.