Kesha Will Be Performing At Loyola On Friday
By Mae Rice in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 23, 2016 8:25PM
Pop star Kesha, who a judge ruled last week could not be released from her contract with Sony even though she alleges she was raped by her producer there, is slated to perform at Chicago’s Loyola University on Friday. First, students plan to rally in support of her legal cause, which has caught national attention and sparked the hasthag #FreeKesha.
The rally, titled “Loyola In Solidarity With Kesha” on Facebook, comes in a response to last week’s ruling from the Manhattan Supreme Court that Kesha (whose legal name is Kesha Rose Sebert) could not break her exclusive contract with Sony producer Dr. Luke (whose legal name is Lukasz Gottwald). Kesha alleges Dr. Luke drugged and raped her in her lawsuit, which Billboard published in full.
Since the verdict, #FreeKesha, has circulated widely on social media, and Kesha’s fellow musicians—from Lorde to Taylor Swift—have come out in support of Kesha’s cause.
Now, Loyola plans to, too. The event description for Friday’s campus rally encourages participants to wear teal, the color associated with sexual violence awareness, and to bring supportive signs—though “posters will not be allowed into the concert, as requested by Kesha's management.”
“To avoid triggering Kesha, we will be staying on the west quad just outside of Gentile Arena, away from where she will be entering,” Melissa Haggerty, one of the event’s organizers, posted in the Facebook event Tuesday. “That way, it's her choice if she wants to attend the rally!”
In the same post, Haggerty wrote that to avoid clogging the campus water filtration system, “please don't bring glitter! It can absolutely be on posters or on your body, though.”
(Previously, the event encouraged participants to bring “plenty of glitter,” DNAInfo reported.)
Kesha will perform at the Jesuit school’s Colossus 2016 event, which takes place in the campus's Gentile Arena. Tickets, available here, are $42 for the general public.