What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? During a Monday, March 7, interview with Australia’s Kyle and Jackie O radio show, Kelly Clarkson slammed her former producer, Dr. Luke, and claimed that her record label forced her into making music with him.
Describing Dr. Luke (real name: Lukasz Gottwald) as “not a good person,” the “Piece by Piece” singer, 33, made it clear that she and the famed hitmaker, 42, do not get along.
“Unfortunately when you have that poor of character, like so many artists don’t like you and don’t like working with you,” the pregnant-again star said, “you know, that’s not normal. I get along with everybody I work with. He’s just not a good guy for me.”
The season 1 American Idol champ clarified via Twitter on Tuesday, March 8, that her current label, RCA Records, is not the one who made her work with him.
Prior to these comments, Clarkson first publicly took aim at Gottwald in a tweet written last month in support of fellow pop star Kesha — who filed a lawsuit against her former collaborator, alleging sexual, physical and mental abuse (claims that Dr. Luke vehemently denied). The “TiK ToK” songstress, 29, filed the suit to get out of her six-record deal with Gottwald, but on February 19, a judge dismissed her motion to be released.
“Trying 2 not say anything since I can’t say anything nice about a person …,” the Idol alum shared. “So this is me not talking about Dr. Luke.”
In response to fans who have attacked Clarkson for not doing more in defense of Kesha, the mom of River Rose, 20 months, explained: “[Dr. Luke and I have] clashed, but I can’t really say anything other than that. I wasn’t there [with Kesha]. I don’t know what happened specifically in their situation. Obviously I wasn’t in the room. But I can remark on his character.”
Dr. Luke is responsible for producing some of Clarkson’s biggest songs, including “Since U Been Gone” and “Behind These Hazel Eyes.” While she’s quick to say he’s a “really talented dude,” Clarkson also claimed that he’s “lied a lot.”
“I’ve run into a couple of really bad situations, musically. It’s really hard for me because he’ll just lie to people, and it makes the artist look bad,” she noted. “He’s kind of difficult to work with and kind of demeaning. It’s kind of unfortunate.”
The last time Clarkson worked with Dr. Luke was on her 2009 track, “My Life Would Suck Without You” — an experience that, well, sucked. The three-time Grammy winner said she “literally” was “blackmailed by [her label]” to get in the studio with him against her will.
“They were like, ‘We will not put your album out if you don’t do this,” she added. “It was a really hard time for me. And I tried to make the best of the situation.”
