Zara Larsson just doesn’t understand why other artists are continuing to work with Dr. Luke.
While appearing on a recent episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, the pop star called out other musicians for partnering with the producer in recent years, despite his controversies. “I’m like, why?” she said on the show. “There’s a million other people. Is it really, really important for him to come back? I don’t think so.”
“I personally wouldn’t do it, because what is he gonna do for me or for anyone else?” she continued. “I think that the most powerful thing you can do is to actually put your money where your mouth is and work with women and hire women and do all of that. So I think that’s way more powerful than writing a feminist anthem with someone who is not really standing for those values.”
Billboard has reached out to Dr. Luke’s reps for comment.
Public opinion of Dr. Luke has been fraught for more than a decade at this point, with Kesha accusing him in 2014 of drugging and raping her at a 2005 party. He has denied all of the accusations, and the two parties’ long legal battle over the issue was settled in 2023. But his public image has never been the same, with several artists — Larsson included — voicing support for Kesha throughout the situation.
“Too many women are not being believed when it comes to this,” Larsson said in a 2016 interview with The Guardian. “And to be honest, whether he’s a rapist or not, he’s not the nicest guy. He’s very talented, you can’t take that away from him, but where do we draw the line?”
Larsson was previously signed to Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records, but left the label shortly before Kesha’s allegations came to light. Larsson was also supposed to have songs produced by Dr. Luke on her 2017 album, So Good, but she scrapped them from the tracklist.
Other stars, however, have still enlisted Dr. Luke in the studio despite the claims against him — the most notable recent example being Katy Perry. The pop superstar sparked backlash after it was revealed that she worked on her 2024 single “Woman’s World” with him, with many pointing out the irony of a track with lyrics about female empowerment featuring production from a man accused of sexual assault.
Perry, however, has previously explained her rationale for working with Dr. Luke on her 143 album, saying on Call Her Daddy last September, “I wrote these songs from my experience of my whole life going through this metamorphosis, and he was one of the people to help facilitate all that … I created all of this with several different collaborators, people that I’ve collaborated with from the past.”
