LOS ANGELES ENTERTAINMENT
Billboard recently conducted an explosive interview with Kesha's mother, Rosemary Patricia "Pebe" Sebert, that reveals startling details about the nature of Kesha's harrowing relationship with record producer Dr. Luke, the man whom she filed a lawsuit against after alleging he sexually and emotionally abused her, as well as manipulated and constricted her career. In the wake of news that Kesha's injunction was denied in late February, and knowing that she'll be under Dr. Luke's control for conceivably the rest of her career, the stories Pebe reveals are made even more disturbing. "She was a prisoner," Pebe told Billboard. "It was like someone who beats you every day and hangs you from a chain and then comes in and gives you a piece of bread. Luke would say, 'You look nice today,' and send her into hysterics of happiness because she was programmed to expect nothing but abuse." Pebe further disclosed that although Kesha is a platinum-selling musician who regularly made appearances on the Billboard Hot 100, she hasn't been able to put out new music since releasing her second album, Warrior, in 2012 due to Dr. Luke's hold over her. "Kesha's allowed to work with another producer, but Luke gets to approve them. He gets to approve of anyone she works with. He has final say over everything." Since the decision made by the judge in her court case was announced, Kesha has fortunately had some good news come her way, like successfully selling her Nashville home and receiving an important honor from the Human Rights Campaign. It's good to know Kesha has the support of other powerful female artists in the music industry, most notably rape survivor Lady Gaga.
Pablo Picasso and Kanye West share many qualities— impatience with formal schooling, insatiable and complicated sexual appetites, a vampiric fascination with beautiful women as muses—but Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole. Kanye, specifically, toasted them. The Life of Pablo's namesake is a provocation, a mystery, a sly acknowledgement of multitudes: Drug lord Pablo Escobar is a permanent fixture of rap culture, but the mystery of "which one?" set Twitter theorists down fascinating rabbit holes, drawing up convincing stand-ins for Kanye's Blue Period (808s & Heartbreak), his Rose Period (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), and his Crystal Period (Yeezus). If Kanye is comparable to Picasso, The Life of Pablo is the moment, after a turbulent life leaving many artistic revolutions and mistreated women in his wake, that the artist finally settles down. In this formulation, Kim Kardashian is Jacqueline Roque, Picasso's final muse and the woman to whom he remained faithful (she even kinda looks like a Kardashian), and the record is the sound of a celebrated megalomaniac settling for his place in history.
I am in a band that was born on the internet. Although Chvrches formed and began writing in October 2011, we made our first wobbly steps into the public realm by posting a song on Neon Gold music blog in May last year. Since then, the blogosphere and social networks have arguably been the key reasons anyone knows about us at all – labels, media and members of the public included. For that reason, it has always been important to us that we communicate directly with people who care about our band through the social networking sites we run. There are, however, downsides to being known on the internet. Last week, I posted a screengrab of one of the many inappropriate messages sent to the band's social networks every day. After making the post, I sat back and watched with an increasingly open mouth as more and more people commented on the statement. At the time of writing, Facebook stats tell me that the post had reached 581,376 people, over five times the number of people who subscribe to the page itself, with almost 1,000 comments underneath the image. Comments range from the disgusted and supportive to the offensively vile. My current favourites from the latter category include: "This isn't rape culture. You'll know rape culture when I'm raping you, bitch" "I have your address and I will come round to your house and give u anal and you will love it you twat lol" "Act like a slut, getting treated like a sluy [sic]" "It's just one of those things you'll need to learn to deal with. If you're easily offended, then maybe the music industry isn't for you"
I'll admit it; I used to judge Kim Kardashian just a little. Not overtly—it was more of a benign judgment. An eye roll here, a snort there. A mutter of 'Is she kidding?' thrown in for good measure. It was easy pickins for a sarcastic girl like me. And I'm certainly not the only one. When she released a nude selfie on Instagram this week, she faced a steady stream of criticism, including the claim that she's a bad role model for young women. Well, she's had enough. In response, Kim Kardashian released an open letter on International Women's Day responding to the body shaming. In it, she showed her fans and critics alike what being a strong woman looks like in the world today and that judgment, benign or otherwise, has no place in her universe. She continued, "I am empowered by my sexuality. I am empowered by feeling comfortable in my skin. I am empowered by showing the world my flaws and not being afraid of what anyone is going to say about me. And I hope that through this platform I have been given, I can encourage the same empowerment for girls and women all over the world." I read Kim's letter, and felt foolish. My judgment no longer felt benign, it felt hostile and oh so wrong, especially for a feminist. (Sidenote: can we just talk about how eloquent she was? Haters beware, she's got skills!) In the letter Kardashian was pretty clearly calling out critics like Bette Midler and teen actress Chloe Moretz as well, who took to Twitter to voice their concerns over the impact the blatantly sexy selfies might have on young women.