Ke$ha’s mother is tired of all the "lies" about why her superstar daughter really checked into rehab and she’s speaking out for the first time with Celebuzz to set the record straight.
Reports have recently indicated the “Your Love Is My Drug” singer is not only getting treatment for an eating disorder, but also seeking help for alcohol, which her mom flatly denies.
“That’s a total lie,” Pebe Sebert told CB! “The place she’s at is an eating disorder center. When they say ‘people close to her’ I will tell you I travel with her everywhere, her little brother, her assistant, makeup artist, talk to anyone."
Ke$ha has never been shy about being a music misfit, known for her pop-rap, hard-partying lyrics and "ain't got a care in the world, but got plenty of beer" attitude.
“If men can talk about drinking in every awesome rock ’n’ roll song and every awesome rap song, why can’t a woman?” she told the Financial Times in 2012. “Just because I drink doesn’t mean I’m a drunk. Just because I have sex, and I’m not embarrassed about it, doesn’t mean I’m a whore. If men can do it, why can’t a woman do it?”
Pebe, a successful singer/songwriter in her own right in Nashville who’s also written several hit tunes with her daughter, insists Ke$ha is focusing on treating only her eating disorder... and when it comes to having a cocktail she’s just like every other young woman her age.
“They do stress sobriety at the [rehabilitation] place,” she said. “Nothing is allowed in there. You can’t even have a razor. And they don’t want you to drink afterward because they’re afraid you’re going to get drunk, eat a pizza and throw up. But it’s not a place you go for drugs and alcohol.”
“She might be crazy and she might get shit-faced drunk," she added with a laugh, "but everyone does.
“She might have a few drinks here and there. But she doesn’t have a drinking problem.”
Pebe, who’s also a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, has taught the downsides of that kind of lifestyle to Ke$ha since she was a little girl.
“She’s been going with me to AA meetings since she was just over a year old. She’s been around that her whole life,” said Pebe, who also appeared on the MTV docu-series, Ke$ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life.
“She’d never touch cocaine because that was one of my vices. She’s always said she never wanted to do the same thing I did and I’ve been preaching that to her for her whole life.”
When Ke$ha (real name Kesha Sebert) started in the music business, Pebe adds her nightlife experiences were that of a normal teenager.
“She went out like any 18 or 19-year-old, but she’d barely do anything because she was working so hard and had no time. She can’t be hungover.”
Pebe, however, points the finger regarding the leaked reports of supposed alcohol-related concerns at Ke$ha’s uber-producer, Lukasz Sebastian "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, who’s been rumored to have said the singer "looks like a f***ing refrigerator.”
“I would think it was Dr. Luke’s people trying to put that out because he’s been getting a lot of the blame for her eating disorder,” she said.
Only Pebe wants to clarify the alleged statement that affected her daughter so profoundly.
“The comment was ‘Can you make her not look like a refrigerator?” she said of Dr. Luke's alleged statement. “He said that to someone we were close to. It was said to someone else who made the mistake of telling me and I told her (Ke$ha).”
In fact, the outspoken singer's legions of fans are so outraged that they started a petition to emancipate Ke$ha from her longtime producer.
But, it seems, the “Tik Tok” songstress's battle with body image came long before those words. Her mother says it surfaced when she was 18 and living in Los Angeles.
“Three months after she signed with him she had been dieting and he [Dr. Luke] told her she wasn’t in shape enough,” Pebe said, even claiming the award-winning producer (who’s worked with Katy Perry and P!nk) suggested she get a trainer, which Pebe adds she paid for out of her pocket.
“She was dieting and she became bulimic. I remember over a period of a few months she got really skinny and she said she was running Runyon Canyon and just eating well," she added.
“The truth is she was throwing up. I didn’t know until much later because she said she would quit.
“I think it’s gotten worse recently because after the ‘refrigerator’ comment, which was about a year ago, I think it kicked into high gear.”
The 26-year-old checked into Timberline Knolls just outside Chicago, Illinois on Jan. 3 and her mom talks with her frequently.
“She’s doing well,” said Pebe. “This is going to be really hard for her. It’s been a part of her life for so long.”
And her 30-day stay could be longer.
“She may not get out that soon. That could just be a starting point,” she added.
But one thing’s for sure, Ke$ha wants to help her fans who are struggling with the same issues and educate them about the dangers associated with eating disorders.
“I think it’s time for someone to stand up and say they’re going to kill themselves. Her blood pressure was so low. It’s serious stuff,” said Pebe.
“She wants to be a voice for this.”
A request for comment from Dr. Luke has yet to be returned.
