Yes, “Teenage Dream” is one of the best pop songs ever made, but no, I shan’t ever be a Katy cat. While I appreciate Katy Perry’s powerful vocals and her provocative, clever songwriting (I’m obviously NOT talking about the writing on 143), I’m also painfully aware of her superficial feminism and entitled rich person moments. For someone who makes music about women’s empowerment, she doesn’t exactly have a proven record of supporting women (*cough* Kesha). The “California Gurls” singer’s musical collaborations, politics, and that dumbass trip to space have all been super disappointing… Here’s a breakdown of the most brutal Katy Perry controversies so far.
The Katy Perry, Kesha, And Dr. Luke Drama
The Katy/Kesha feud is all about controversial songwriter and producer Dr. Luke. In 2014, Kesha sued the producer, accusing him of drugging and raping her. He’s denied her allegations and called them “completely untrue and deeply hurtful.” Dr. Luke countersued and they wound up in a decade-long court battle before they settled his defamation lawsuit in 2023. In 2017, Kesha shared during sworn questioning: “The abuse I suffered from Luke was a decade long, every day, every moment of every day.”
Despite the very serious nature of Kesha’s accusations, Katy enthusiastically worked with Dr. Luke on her latest album, 143. Yup… They even collaborated on her lead single, “Woman’s World,” which is about as ironic as it gets. “Katy knew exactly the album she wanted to make and put together the team to make it happen,” per a source from her label. In summary: She obviously didn’t care that much about the allegations (or maybe she just didn’t believe them).
A few hours before Katy announced the Dr. Luke collab, Kesha seemingly responded with a tweet, just writing, “lol.”
Katy Perry’s Politics Controversy
In 2022, Katy proudly revealed that she voted for.longtime Republican-turned-Democrat Rick Caruso for mayor over Karen Bass, the progressive candidate who won the election and became the city’s first female mayor. Katy posted a photo of herself at the voting booth, showing off her vote for the controversial billionaire real estate developer. (He’s donated to anti-abortion organizations and later pledged $1 million to support an abortion rights proposition, but there’s no evidence of those funds actually getting donated. Oh, and he also claimed that he’s not white because he’s Italian…) This was *another* major fake feminist moment for Katy.
“As much as the right try to spin it, Katy Perry voting for Rick Caruso is not an indication of anything other than a rich white woman voting for a fake Democrat who will ultimately have no effect on the quality of her life but will worsen the lives of many others,” one tweet summed it up.
Katy Perry’s Blue Origin Spaceflight Controversy
On April 14, Katy was on the ~historic~ Blue Origin all-female spaceflight (for a grand total of 11 minutes). The space tourism moment was an unfathomably expensive ad for Blue Origin, which is T*ump crony billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space tech company. The trip was branded as an exciting moment for feminism, and Katy claimed it made her feel “connected to that strong divine feminine.” (I just let out the loudest sigh.) However, she and the others have received backlash for going on such a wasteful, useless, and grossly overpriced excursion — and for supporting a man who’s made billions by exploiting people and is very complicit in our current political crisis. I fear this was on-brand for Katy.
