5 ways you can support Kesha

Kesha lost a major lawsuit on Friday against her label, Sony. She filed the suit in 2014 against her producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald for emotional and sexual assault, and against Sony for negligence. She lost; the judge claimed that “there has been no showing of irreparable harm” against Kesha’s career.

How do you support a major pop star being wronged by her label and the legal system? You could buy a Kesha album, but at least half of the profit would go to her label, which allegedly oppresses her.

Here are five things you can actually do to help #FreeKesha:

1. Believe her

Kesha was brave enough to come out publicly against her oppressor and ask the legal system to back her. Even though she lost the case, you, as an individual, can choose to believe a woman standing up for herself.

We live in a culture that encourages us to dismiss women’s claims of assault or—worse—find a way to blame them for it. In Kesha’s case, there is one tweet that should help even the most cynical question their stance.

Here’s what Kelly Clarkson—who has worked extensively with Dr. Luke—tweeted about the case:

Even though Kelly Clarkson and Dr. Luke collaborated on a song that became a massive hit—”Since U Been Gone”—she has nothing nice to say about him. And it seems like no one in this case has Dr. Luke’s back.

This scenario is depressingly common in the entertainment business, and we need to believe the women who have the courage to speak up.

2. Show Solidarity on Social Media #FreeKesha

Proclaiming your support for Kesha takes believing her into the public sphere. It also puts you in pretty damn good company. Here are a few celebrities who have already proclaimed their support:

To join the conversation, use the hashtag #FreeKesha on Twitter, Facebook, and/or Instagram.

3. Donate money

Unless Kesha starts a Kickstarter (she hasn’t… yet), it’s not exactly clear how to give money directly to Kesha. Taylor Swift donated $250,000, but unlike Taylor Swift, most of us don’t have Kesha’s cell to Venmo her some cash.

What you can do is donate to causes that help women in similar situations afford legal representation.

RAINN—the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network—supports victims of sexual violence. Women Against Rape (WAR) supports women going through court battles. Neither organization will give money directly to Kesha, but both could help another woman going through the same kind of trial.

4. Put Dr. Luke on mute

Some Kesha supporters are calling for a complete boycott of Kesha’s label Sony. According to the petition available on change.org, “By signing this petition to boycott Sony you stand against their manipulative and money hungry acts and refuse to by music/products from a band that abuses their artists like this!” As of press time, over 225,000 people have signed the petition.

It’s worth noting, though, that Sony is a huge label with a ton of artists. To boycott the company means to refuse to listen to almost a third of currently published music on any platform and (if you want to be a stickler) to refuse to see many major blockbuster movies.

A more targeted approach, if you feel really strongly, might be to think twice about playing Kesha’s songs with Dr. Luke—and any other Dr. Luke works. It means you won’t be able to listen to Nicki Minaj’s “Only” or Maroon 5’s “Sugar,” but you’ll probably survive.

5. Support female producers

Another way to support Kesha and her work is to support other women in the music industry. Almost all producers of Top 40 music are men. No, really: In 2015, 96.8% of Top 40 producers were men.

What that means, theoretically, is that if an artist is abused by a male producer and stuck on that record label, she might not have the option to decide to work with a woman for her next album.

Performers like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga could take action by choosing to work with more women. But since so few women are given the opportunity to produce tracks, most female musicians have no option but to work with men—and that includes Kesha, and her future at Sony.