Bringing her “Fuck the World” tour to Brooklyn venue Warsaw last night, Kesha—who remains embroiled in a lawsuit with her former producer and alleged sexual abuser, Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald—performed what Billboard described as “defiant,” “fiery,” yet optimistic set. Her fans, captured on video chanting “Fuck Dr. Luke” from the audience, seemed to approve.
Presenting as Kesha and the Creepies, Kesha—who is legally barred from releasing new music—and her band performed revamped versions of her old hits (like “Tik Tok” and “Timber”), as well as several covers.
In a short speech recorded on on several fans’ Instagram accounts, the musician briefly referenced her lawsuit while instructing audience members to leave their stresses at the door.
“Anything outside of these four walls doesn’t matter tonight,” she yelled. “I’m talking about rent. I’m talking about homework. I’m talking about your shitty ex-boyfriend. I’m talking about my lawsuit. Fuck that!”
Later, according to Billboard’s Joe Lynch:
Kesha stopped to respond to screams of love from the audience. “I miss you guys, too. I love you guys,” she said, breaking off and turning away for a moment. “You made me cry,” she said, pulling a tear away from her eye while her voice faltered. “Thank you for standing with me through all this.” She was quickly met with a wall of “Kesha” and “Free Kesha” chants, followed quickly by “f—- him, f—- him,” over and over. Not losing sight of the ongoing lawsuit, Kesha, still teary, smiled and simply said, “No comment.”
The “Fuck Dr. Luke” sentiment peppered the evening, with fans continuing to cheer Kesha on as she her band performed a set which happened to include a cover of Lesley Gore’s 1963 hit “You Don’t Own Me.” (We see your wink, Kesha, and are winking right back.)