Kelly Clarkson Says Her Label 'Blackmailed' Her Into Working with Dr. Luke
3/7/2016 by Jessie Katz
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Kelly Clarkson photographed on March 2, 2015 in New York City.
CINDY ORD/GETTY IMAGES FOR IHEARTRADIO
If Dr. Luke is looking for more artists to come to his defense in the court of public opinion, he can count Kelly Clarkson out.
The former American Idol star, who collaborated with Dr. Luke on her career breakout "Since You Been Gone" and the more recent "My Life Would Suck Without You," told Australia's KIIS 1065 that she only worked with the producer "because literally I got blackmailed by my label. They were like, 'We will not put your album out if you don't do this.'"
Clarkson's label RCA is owned by parent company Sony, whom a court recently ruled is not obligated to let Kesha out of her contract with them even though she has accused Dr. Luke, her producer there, of drugging and raping her, among other accusations. (Billboard has reached out to Clarkson, RCA, and Dr. Luke for comment.) Though Clarkson said she didn't know what specifically went on between Dr. Luke and Kesha, she did offer that in her own experience she found him "difficult to work with" and "demeaning."
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"He's not a good person to me," she said. "Unfortunately when you have that poor of character so many artists don't like you, don't like working with you. That's not normal."
Clarkson explained that despite her clashes with Dr. Luke and the fact that "he's just lied a lot," he never physically assaulted her and she had other people's lives at stake when deciding how to handle the situation.
"It was a really hard time for me," she recalled. "We have our whole touring crew, and people who depend on us for their livelihood. So it's like, sometimes you have to make decisions that you just have to sort of swallow that pill." But she conceded that if she had been victim of the things Kesha has accused him of, she would be telling a different story.
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"If it's true then I can't imagine working with somebody that had done something like that," she continued. "I've never had that particular situation happen to me. I've never been that sex kitten pop star, I've never sold that part. I don't think anyone would do that to me."
"I'm totally Texan, too," she added with a laugh. "I'd just hit someone with my car."
Listen to the full interview below, with the portion about Dr. Luke beginning around 1:23:40.
www.billboard.com/articles/news/6898367/kelly-clarkson-label-blackmailed-her-working-dr-luke