Kesha sobs as judge rules singer must continue working with producer who allegedly raped her in 2006

Kesha (c.) cries as she learns she will not be released from her record label contract in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday. Kesha's contract requires her to record six more albums for Sony Records.

Kesha broke down in tears in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday when a judge denied her request for a preliminary injunction that would have temporarily nullified her contract with Sony Records.

The "Tik Tok" singer says she's too afraid to continue working with super producer Dr. Luke, whose real name is Luke Gottwald and who holds her exclusive contract, and that Sony won’t promote her music if she’s paired with a different producer.

Dozens of fans rallied outside the courthouse in support of the embattled singer.

"Free Kesha Now! Free Kesha Now!" they chanted as the singer walked down the long front steps with her entourage.

A few minutes earlier, she hugged a weeping fan outside the courtroom.

"You don't deserve this at all. It's unfair," the fan, Lindsay Scarpa, told her.

Kesha declined to speak with reporters.

Kesha leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday after a judge told her an injunction would undermine state contract law.

The 28-year-old, whose real name is Kesha Rose Sebert, claims that Dr. Luke drugged her with a "sober pill" and raped her shortly after her 18th birthday in California. He was never criminally charged.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich said she thought Sony would suffer irreparable harm if Kesha was not compelled to abide by a contract that requires her to make six more albums with the company.

Kesha had asked the judge to issue a preliminary injunction that would bar Sony from forcing her to work with Dr. Luke and to cancel her contracts.

The judge said that granting that request would undermine the state's laws governing contracts and the court couldn't do that. She also said that Sony had offered to let Kesha work with another producer.

Kesha's lawyer, Mark Geragos, argued that Sony's promise was "illusory" because even if the recordings were made, the record company wouldn't promote them. He contended that Sony had more invested in Dr. Luke than in Kesha and it would do everything to protect him because he makes them more money.

                                      

JAMES DEVANEY/GC IMAGES                                                TOMMASO BODDI/WIREIMAGE

The "Tik Tok" singer accused producer Dr. Luke (r.) of rape and said she is afraid to work with him.

The judge said that Geragos had offered nothing concrete to back up his "speculative" argument.

Kesha, in a dramatic all-white outfit seated in court next to her mother in a back row, initially looked stunned as the judge refused to issue the injunction. Then as a tear soaked fan in front of her started sniffling loudly, her own eyes filled with tears.

The lawyers also argued yesterday over motions by Dr. Luke and Sony to dismiss the underlying case in which Kesha contends that Dr. Luke abused her emotionally and psychologically for a decade, forcing her to take a sabbatical and go into rehab in January 2014.

The judge was critical of those claims as well, saying she didn't think the information provided by Kesha's lawyers was detailed enough to keep her civil rights, sexual harassment and discrimination claims alive. However, the judge postponed making a decision on the dismissal motions.

Earlier, fans sang Kesha tunes in the cold outside the courthouse.

"Nobody should have to work with somebody who has abused her like this,” said Alyssa Johnson, 19, of New Milford Conn. “We're here to show support."

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