Last week saw the latest development in Kesha’s ongoing battle to separate herself from her contract with Sony Music and producer Dr. Luke, when a New York Supreme Court Justice denied her an injunction that would have allowed her to make music independent of Sony and Dr. Luke. The legal battle over the contract wages on, though, as the injunction was just a proposed temporary measure to allow Kesha to record while the courts decide on an ultimate outcome, which could take an exorbitant amount of time. And so Taylor Swift, who remained silent on Twitter, supported Kesha by donating $250,000 to ease her financial woes while she’s unable to produce music.
The money came on Sunday, and was welcome enthusiastically by Kesha’s mom, who took to Twitter.
How exactly the money was given to Kesha — was it loaded on to Visa gift cards, or sent directly via Venmo? — and whether or not it will ease the financial burden is yet to be seen. It’s an undeniably kind gesture on the part of Swift, and it’s surprising to see her make a move that so boldly states that she is siding with Kesha, if only because it doesn’t seem in character for Swift to piss off a major label (Sony) or producer (Dr. Luke).
In the meantime, plenty of other stars have offered support via Twitter, which is nice, but it’s not $250,000.
Demi Lovato also had some not-nice things to say about Swift’s silence and the relatively easy action of donating cash instead of making a public stance.
It’s all very complicated, made still more difficult by the lens of cynicism through which pop culture must be viewed. Here’s hoping the legal battle ends soon, and in the correct way.