Kesha Removes Diddy’s Name From ‘TiK ToK’ Lyrics Onstage After Cassie Lawsuit
In light of Cassie’s recent lawsuit against Diddy, Kesha is reassessing the lyrics of her breakout hit single “TiK ToK.”
The 36-year-old musician, who is currently on her Only Love Tour, hit Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium on Saturday night and performed “TiK ToK” as the second song in her set. In the 2009 song’s opening line, Kesha sang, “Wake up in the morning feeling just like me” — a clear change from the original lyrics: “Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy.” The pop star continued the song with no additional lyrical changes.
The lyric change comes a day after Cassie Ventura and Diddy (real name Sean Combs) settled her lawsuit against the music mogul, in which the “Me and U” singer sued Diddy for over a decade’s worth of alleged abuse. The lawsuit claimed that the singer was subject to multiple physical beatings and was coerced into “sex acts with male sex workers” as Combs masturbated and watched. Other complaints in the court filings stated that when Ventura tried separating from Combs in 2018, he “forced her into her home and raped her while she repeatedly said ‘no’ and tried to push him away.”
Ventura and Combs’ settlement occurred just 24 hours after the filing, a decision that she said allowed her to “resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control.” The statement — issued late Friday night by her attorney, Douglas Wigdor — continued, “I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support.”
Combs responded with a statement of his own, adding, “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love.” On Nov. 19, the producer’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, noted that “a decision to settle a lawsuit, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing” and “does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims.”
Watch Kesha’s lyric change below.
Starr Bowenbank
Billboard
