Do we like Katy Perry?
Our score: 5 out of 10. A long record of backing LGBTQ+ people and a clear stand on the White House video, against a denied allegation police are reportedly investigating and a call to work with Dr. Luke.
Perry grew up in a strict religious home, and she's been upfront about what that did to her. Accepting the Trevor Project's Hero award in 2012, she said she grew up in “a very intolerant environment” and talked about how far she'd moved from it. That journey from the pews to a pop career is the backbone of her whole story.
The big one is fresh and unresolved. In April, Ruby Rose posted on Threads alleging that Perry sexually assaulted her at a Melbourne nightclub, and Victoria Police later confirmed detectives were investigating an alleged historic assault from 2010 without naming anyone. Perry's representative called the allegation “categorically false” and “dangerous reckless lies” and pointed to what they called Rose's history of public accusations. No charge has been reported in anything we found, and the latest coverage we saw is from mid-April.
It isn't the first time her conduct has been questioned. In a 2020 Guardian interview, reported by NME, she was asked about earlier allegations of misconduct and answered in general terms, saying she doesn't respond to everything said about her. Make of that what you will: it isn't a denial of any specific claim, and it isn't an admission either.
On the harm test she's in good shape. She has backed LGBTQ+ people for years, and at the 2024 VMAs she thanked the LGBTQ+ community as people she “would not be here without”. The blemish is company: her 2024 comeback single was co-written and co-produced by Dr. Luke, whom Kesha accused of sexual assault and abuse, which he denies and was never charged over. Critics objected, and Perry said the video was meant as satire.
The latest political flare-up came in July, when the White House put Firework behind footage of a US strike on Iran. Perry said she was “deeply appalled”, hadn't approved it and wasn't asked, and said her music is for bringing people together. Where you land depends on whether you read it as an artist protecting her song or as a statement on the war itself; she framed it as the first.
She also had a rough March in court. Australia's High Court ruled 3-2 against her in the long-running fight with Melbourne designer Katie Taylor, who trades as Katie Perry, and left the trademark on the register. Perry's side says she offered a coexistence deal in 2009 and never tried to shut the business down.