The Katy Perry backlash continues.
The pop singer and former American Idol judge was recently caught on camera hopping into her ride as she was being hammered with questions about working with controversial music producer Dr. Luke, a year after his decade-long legal battle with pop singer Kesha ended. Kesha accused Dr. Luke of drugging and raping her when she was 18-years-old—but Perry recently worked with the producer again, and fans aren’t having it.
Dr. Luke has repeatedly denied her claims, calling them “malicious falsehoods,” and immediately sued the singer right back.
ADVERTISEMENT
Amidst Kesha and Dr. Luke’s legal battle, it emerged that in 2016, Kesha had sent text messages to Lady Gaga claiming that the producer had also raped Katy Perry. Perry later testified that Kesha’s account was untrue, and a judge ruled the text messages were defamatory.
Dr. Luke’s lawsuit against Kesha for defamation, however, was settled just last June. Following that settlement, Kesha said in a statement that “Only God knows what happened that night,” but “I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one.”
Now, Perry has decided to collaborate with the producer once again on a new single titled “Woman’s World,” due to drop on July 11. According to fans, the song is intended to signal “female empowerment,” but many are seeing Perry’s collab as anything but. When the news broke that Perry had again linked up with Dr. Luke for the project, Kesha tweeted simply, “lol,” which many interpreted to be a comment on the situation.
How much of Perry’s upcoming album will feature a Dr. Luke credit is still unknown, but the one song has been enough to spark plenty of backlash. “Katy, is there a reason why you work with Dr. Luke?” one person asks her in the video. “Isn’t your album about women empowerment?”
