Dr Luke has filed a lawsuit against the mother of pop singer Kesha for defamation. The filing comes after Pebe Sebert defended her daughter, who has claimed Dr Luke sexually assaulted her.

The lawsuit was filed in a Tennessee court on Wednesday, The Wrap reported. The law suit cited a tweet Pebe published which said:"Kesha can't legally put out music unless she makes it under complete control of a man who raped her at 18."

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Dr Luke's lawyer, Christine Lepara said in a statement to Pitchfork : "After we originally filed suit against Pebe Sebert, she continued to make outrageous, false, and defamatory statements against Dr Luke in her widespread media campaign to damage him and smear his name.

"Pebe Sebert's lawyers flat out refused to allow us to add those statements to the existing case or to toll the statute of limitations on them – so we've been compelled to file an additional action".

However, Serbert's lawyer, Alex Little said according to Courthouse News Service: "Mrs Sebert looks forward to presenting her case to a jury as soon as possible. When the evidence is made public, she expects the jury will conclude that all of her statements have been justified."

In 2014, Kesha sued Dr Luke – real name Lukasz Gottwald – accusing him of drugging, raping and emotionally abusing her.

Kesha filed for an injunction against her record label to allow her to make music outside of her six-album contract. The injunction was denied by the New York Supreme Court.

Kesha also dropped the California lawsuit in early August 2016, because she needed to ""get her music out", but plans to continue with proceedings in New York.

Kesha's case has brought attention towards sexism in the music industry. She has attracted support from Adele and Lorde. Taylor Swift has donated $250,000 to Kesha for the court proceedings in a show of support.

Dr Luke has previously sued Serbert for defamation in 2014.