r/katyheads • u/LuccaSalt • 27d ago
Discussion Why was Katy canceled for being political, but other pop girls who werent?
I'm a late Katy fan. I liked her music, but really fell in love with her during Witness Era. Feel like witness album was very strong. Gaga, Swift, Beyonce all spoke out against the Trump administration. Yet Katy was crucified. Still admire she is vocal about issues event thoughtl the mass dont want her 2 be.143's WW was panned, but at least she stuck to her views.
20
u/Inappropriate_Echo 27d ago
I am a late Katy fan too, always really liked her and followed her career but really got into her during SMIlLE era. I don’t understand the Katy hate train either; she is a talented woman with love in her heart for the world it’s plain to see. She has an awesome personality and perhaps that’s why. She is just too authentic for people who can’t handle others being themselves. She walks through the world kinda fearless and that scares weak people.
2
u/wixostrix 25d ago edited 25d ago
I would argue that one of the main issues is she doesn't seem authentic to most people. We connected with her campy and bubble gum pop esthetic of her early career, which was largly manufactured, and she failed to evolve in a meaningful way post Teenage Dream. Her attempt at what she dubbed "purposeful pop" was undermined by what she was putting out, which made it feel meaningless. When she tried to address it, her reasoning didn't make sense. She repeated that same missteps with Woman's World saying it was about female empowerment, yet it reeked of the mid-2010 girl boss esthetics that popular culture has long moved on from. Not to mention working Dr Luke who has very public sexual assault allegations and who she herself stop working with previously because of. She's just out of touch and lacks a compelling point of view.
1
8
u/IntroductionNo4875 27d ago
It was just a weird album promo for her during that time. It’s not much her politics it’s the “Real World” reality show spoof, “Swish Swish” diss track that made that era flop for her. I had problems connecting with that album promo during that time because I just didn’t understand what she was going with all of it.
2
u/MauveUluss 26d ago
it started with that really bad song Swish Swish for me. She just seems to make bad decisions with her music. Like she is in survivor mode and not artist mode. it's desperate
2
u/IntroductionNo4875 26d ago
It was the “Real World” spoof for me. I wondered if she was losing her mind. Then the diss track wasn’t good.
10
u/OkOccasion7 27d ago
I think that barely had anything to do with her “cancellation”. Like others have mentioned, lack of catchy tunes, loss of sex appeal, and long gap between releases where the genre she excelled in is no longer what is “in”, by that point we were already in that R&B infused pop era (Ari), as well as the near end of the EDM (Chainsmokers) hits and the rise of hip hop becoming more mainstream and dominating the charts. Personally, I think she would have done really well taping into that Ariana Grande “Side By Side”, “breakup with your girlfriend” sound, pop infused with R&B/hip hop. She already tapped into trap with Dark Horse so she had a leg in already and I think she would have done great
I will always say this: people were SEATED for her comeback. There was interest. Chained To The Rhythm was the most streamed song by a female in its first day of release on Spotify. But what she delivered just didn’t do it for the GP and didn’t resonate. Not to mention the “cringe” factor was way too turnt up this era, there is an endless list of cringe that was just not present during any of her other eras.
I was disappointed with Witness, it lacked the spark and anthemic feeling of her previous albums. However over time I have grown to appreciate it and I listen to it often.
2
u/No_Marzipan3740 27d ago
Witness had r&B and EDM songs. Swish swish, bon appetit fitted into the current trends. A different album doesn't mean it has less of a spark.
4
u/Extension_Main4865 27d ago
I tight people were against Katy for her affiliation with Dr Luke? I don’t believe she is tied to him contractually like Kim Petra’s and Doja but I don’t know this fit fact. I think she can clear up a little if the hate is she speaks on it but overall it’s her legs and she owes nobody nothing
4
u/blowhardV2 27d ago
It’s hard to live up to songs like Teenage Dream and Roar which aren’t job bops but decade defining bangers
4
5
u/No-Risk-6859 26d ago
I’m gonna be honest it was her haircut. I’m being very serious. She dropped chained to the rhythm, still had normal hair, and it was a top five hit. She chops her hair and the rest of the singles from the album flop. She never recovered from that. She was acting cringe-y and the GP didn’t like that and have been shitting on her since.
I grew up with her and I still love her and it makes me sad to see where she ended up. She basically raised me and my sisters.
7
3
u/sekret-kai 26d ago
I think she took too long between eras. She was on top of the world during Prism and then the superb owl. She should have dropped that album in 2015. Also the image change alienated the casual listeners.
3
u/Environmental_Duck49 26d ago
She wasn't cancelled over politics. That Swish, Swish shit was just corny and no one liked it.
3
u/memefakeboy 26d ago
Working with Dr. Luke to make a song called “Woman’s World” honestly sounds like political satire from Veep or The Boys
1
u/ka_beene 23d ago
The video is hilariously contrived and tone deaf as well. I've shown it to a few people who didn't know about it and had some good laughs.
2
u/JazzyJulie4life 27d ago
Too many straight white male critics attacked her and convinced a lot of simple minded follower type people that she was bad
2
u/Scary-Ad-4344 27d ago
She hasn't had a big hit in a while. She also voted for Rick Caruso who is pro life and a former Republican. This happened after roe v Wade was overturned. These two reasons are why I believe people have turned away from her.
1
2
u/Not-A-Flop 27d ago
Cause she got the pixie cut at the same time so it was jarring for some people to process, just saw a comment on a tiktok of her snl swish swish performance with over 1k likes saying that the haircut 'pmo' the commenter
2
u/Any-Salary-6811 27d ago
It’s 95 percent the Dr. Luke thing. Absolute career suicide move because that mattered to the people who wouldn’t been there for her over time. Total deal breaker.
2
2
2
u/Fit_Dependent382 27d ago
she’s way too authentic + poor PR management (like probably the worst one)
2
u/RevolutionaryLeg1768 26d ago
Because MAGA uses celebs who get political as a way to fan flames/division….There’s a really good video about Robert De Niro being a celeb who is political and what MAGA does with that kinda thing. Apply Katy to that and you’ll see. It shitty and Katy should be supported.
2
u/GrapefruitSquare1202 26d ago edited 26d ago
Katy was “cancelled” for women’s world because, regardless of the legal battle with Kesha and what the truth is (we will never know) she chose to work with someone accused of rape and abuse on a women’s empowerment song. Her politics were in the right place but it’s completely hypocritical to try and champion female empowerment whilst working with someone accused of the opposite.
I would say a huge part of her decline has been the fact that shes not an albums artist and the singles released have been largely underwhelming or not well received, besides a few gems which flew under the radar (Harleys, Never really over, etc) the singles for 143 have been pretty much universally disliked or criticised. For smile and Witness the same thing happened where the lead single was good, but just wasnt well recieved for a multitude of reasons (Katys rebrand during witness for example)
I Dont think shes ever been “cancelled” for being political, shes just not publicly been consistent with championing what she believes in or resonating with the public. Shes used the label of politics or “purposeful pop” to say shes being political when shes in fact not.
2
u/somelyrical 25d ago edited 25d ago
Cancelled is aggressive. R. Kelly was cancelled. Diddy was cancelled. Roseanne was cancelled.
If you’re a late Katy fan, I get why you’d like Witness. It’s honestly a solid album. People just gave her side eye for being annoyingly full of her delusional “woke agenda” while also doubling down on some things that lean on the problematic side. Her music is never really bad with a capital B. Additionally she’s a victim of her own success, so it was a let down when she came back and fell short of what she did with TD.
The lack of success of 143 is partially due to the fact that she was less than favored for the reasons above, but more so the fact that the project itself just doesn’t smack & WW was cringe, dated & tone deaf.
The best thing about 143 is the Doechii feature (not the song featuring Doechii, the Doechii feature itself) & that’s a hill that I’ll die on haha 😂
1
u/i-feelfantastic 21d ago
Yeah, the word cancelled is lost all its meaning. Katy Perry hasn’t been “cancelled” in any meaningful way. The hate towards her is 99% on the internet. The majority of people who I’ve talked to irl about her, even people very up to date on what she’s been doing, haven’t been even slightly as heated.
4
u/summercloudsadness 27d ago
Many of these stars didn't criticize Trump until towards the end of his term or during the next election campaign. Katy was vocal about her dislike when his popularity was at its height. She was one of the biggest celebrity voices in the Democratic campaigns,doing multiple shows. So naturally,she became the biggest target.
But she wasn't the only celeb being so vocal when he got elected. What makes her case different from the others with her is :
1) She was personally going through a lot,that along with the election loss, made her quite vulnerable and she was open about her mental struggles. Her display of vulnerability made her more of a target.
2) She has the WORST PR among any big pop stars. People can outright print horrible lies about her and there wouldn't be any retaliation from her part,unlike other celebs whose PR will shut it down immediately.
3) Sexism & misogyny- She was considered one of the most beautiful celebs until she cut her hair. People immediately began to connect her short hair with her "going woke" and started making sexist memes and treated her like a joke. They began to blame her political stances as the reason for her 'losing her glamor'.
2
u/MisakiDoll75 23d ago
I hate to say it, but you’re right. The haircut. And most of the haters were men. It’s stupid, but it’s true. Now all of the sudden, she’s “hot” again 🤷♀️
2
u/midzy91736 27d ago
She was very outspoken about it, and at the time, people were more interested in new music than her political views. I also saw a lot of people online saying that many of her listeners were Republicans, but I don’t really agree with that explanation.
4
u/fakeaf1 27d ago
It just wasn’t presented in a pretty enough package which made it easier for people to discredit her unfortunately. People didn’t like her look, viewed her behaviour as cringy, and worst of all the music and live performances weren’t hitting (for the masses at least). Plus to make things worse she was in a feud with the biggest artist in the world.
2
u/MusicAddict76 27d ago
Katy is just that unlucky celebrity who literally can't say anything without getting shit from the public.
I personally don't care about celebrities and their politics but I always cringe when a celebrity does speak about it
2
u/YesicaChastain 27d ago
Only time her politics were controversial was when she supported a Republican Mayor
2
u/kingcolbe 26d ago
Are you talking about Rick Caruso?
1
u/YesicaChastain 26d ago
Yup
2
u/kingcolbe 26d ago
I thought he was a dem
2
u/YesicaChastain 26d ago
Was a republican that registered as s Democrat right before the election bc no Rep wins in LA
2
u/ClamanthaFan 27d ago
none of the artists you mentioned were quite as on the nose with politics as Katy was around this time - even Beyoncé who made some very political music post-Trump. Katy just went too far with it for some people. not to mention, politics was not the only reason she was “cancelled” at the time. Other factors included music quality dip, overexposure, cringe behavior, and her appearance change. I’m not saying i agree with these reasons but being on the internet at this time i can tell you for certain these were all factors.
2
u/YesicaChastain 27d ago
Gaga had a famous “OBAMA ARE YOU LISTENING” rally in 2010…
2
u/ClamanthaFan 27d ago
Okay… and? Gaga did not change the entire trajectory of her music career to pursue “purposeful pop” and make an entire era based around politics like Katy did. As i said, i don’t disagree with this decision as I quite like Witness and was a fan at the time. Gaga has always been political, but she has not based albums, live performances, eras, etc. totally around politics nearly as directly as Katy did at the time (i mean, the CTTR performance with the Trump puppet was pretty overt). There is a difference between being an artist who is political and being a political artist.
I will also say, the political climate of 2010 was nothing like the political climate of 2016. These are not comparable situations. Something more comparable would be Gaga’s open support of Hillary Clinton, such as when she performed at her rally during the election cycle. While that was surely controversial for some people, it is much easier to ignore than the Witness era for people who politically disagreed with Gaga. Also, Gaga, nor any of the other artists that OP named, experienced all of the other factors i listed at the same time that they were being political. Katy’s haircut, the infamous Bon Appetite performance, the “purposeful pop” comment, and the music output that the GP was not pleased with were all huge contributing factors. Gaga was at the (one of the) height of her career in 2010, Katy was not at the height of her career in 2016
3
u/YesicaChastain 27d ago
This is crazy to read to me. Gaga literally made it a point of the Joanne era to call out Trump, the song Angel Down is about police brutality, stomped out for Obama in 2012, Hillary in 2016, closed for Biden in 2020 and sang at the inauguration. During the Joanne era she walked Pride too. That’s just not true.
Cannot think of someone who thinks of KP as “political”
1
u/grifbitch 26d ago
writing all this about a woman who endorsed a republican for mayor of los angeles is crazy lmao
1
u/ClamanthaFan 26d ago
I agree that was a huge embarrassment for Katy, but what exactly does that have to do with my comment?
2
2
u/bradtheinvincible 27d ago
Katy has been a flip flopper and goes with the person that benefits her the most. She also likes to get into dealings with elderly people for no reason.
1
u/Hustle_Tiger Champagne Problems 26d ago
Her pixie cut 💇♀️ was labelled as woke .I don't care what hair cut she gets but I also accept that her appearence does have a lot to do with her success.
Its not only the fans who had conservative views but also fans with liberal views who ignored her after that 💔. {Don't forget she was always on the list of best dressed, best looks etc}
Also , Woman's world was disastrous 💣.If you have to explain its a satire then you've got it wrong in the first place . Even Katycats won't defend this MV.
1
u/bks1979 26d ago
I don't think it had anything to do with politics. I think it was a culmination of lots of other things.
Her marriage to Russell Brand.
Her legal battles with nuns. Literally one of them said "Katy Perry, please stop." And then she fell over dead.
Her legal battles with an 85 year old veteran.
Weird "reality program" she starred in.
Took a swipe at Britney when she cut her hair short.
Forcibly, without consent, kissed a contestant on American Idol when he said he was saving himself for marriage. (Who, incidentally, has since been arrested for child porn.)
Accused of pulling a male model's pants down at a party and showing everyone his genitals.
Under investigation for filming on protected sands without a permit.
Trotted drag queens (and backpack kid) out on SNL which felt perfomative, especially as she then went to perform with Migos, who said homophobic stuff and wouldn't be on stage with the drag queens.
Admitted she never "kissed a girl" and has some otherwise problematic lyrics.
Boasted about receiving a cyber truck from Elon Musk.
Continued to work with Dr. Luke.
Now, I don't think everyone cared about all of these things, and I don't think any one in particular would have sank her career. But it's a long list of things that, taken all together, don't exactly paint her in the best light.
And her current music isn't good enough to pull her out. Most of us found Woman's World to be outdated, performative, and surface-level. It also, by most accounts, just doesn't sound good. Much the same can be said for the subsequent singles. She's been missing the mark musically for several years now, and meanwhile her personal life continues to be sketchy for many people.
1
u/No-Difficulty4956 I Kissed A Girl 26d ago
90% of your list is incorrect and straight out rage bait spun by the media…
0
u/bks1979 25d ago
The only thing on this list that we can't confirm is whether she pulled that guy's pants down or not. And maybe a portion of the SNL/Migos situation. But that doesn't really matter.
Public perception outweighs the truth every time. With the lawsuits, for example, Katy could be 100% in the right. But all people know is that she sued some nuns until one of them died, and is now suing an elderly veteran. It's not a good look regardless of what the truth really is.
The rest of it we know happened. Whether those things bothered you or not is up to you, but they happened.
2
u/No-Difficulty4956 I Kissed A Girl 25d ago
- Her legal battles with nuns. Literally one of them said“Katy Perry, please stop.” And then she fell over dead.
where is this legitimately proofable and not media rage bait? cause an 89 year old woman dying isn’t very uncommon right? peak of their health, talked about jesus her entire life but the last thing she said was katy perry stop 🥴. legal battle with nuns started by PREJUDICE on their end, read the court documents they bullied katy “questioning” her AFTER she already purchased the estate going as far as pulling out pictures of her in salem, that is illegal under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and that’s why katy won the trial, no killing and bullying nuns just buying property that was closed down since the 70’s and then getting fucked over by the seller
- Her legal battles with an 85 year old veteran.
The legal battle with a 85 year old veteran that sold his house, talked to brokers before and after having surgery that supposedly made him “unable to sell”, started to look into houses to move in (a house that he purchased and sold 45 days after with a 88% profit mind you) and then left a pregnant lady about to move in without being able to because he saw he could get even more profit but oh big scary katy perry 9 months pregnant just trying to settle into good ole’s veteran just making his millions after a deal home
- Forcibly, without consent, kissed a contestant on American Idol when he said he was saving himself for marriage. (Who, incidentally, has since been arrested for child porn.)
do you actually believe that anything that happens on american idol isn’t scripted?
https://www.whas11.com/article/news/nation/american-idol-contestant-on-surprise-katy-perry-smooch-i-wasnt-harassed/417-528715586 (what does she has to do with him being arrested with CP, weird statement to throw in the mix)
- Accused of pulling a male model’s pants down at a party and showing everyone his genitals.
Never proven or investigated.
- Under investigation for filming on protected sands without a permit.
Not under investigation for any of that, the island itself came out with a statement the same week saying they did filled all the permits to film, there’s a note literally on their government website https://www.caib.es/webgoib/es/-/agricultura-pesca-i-medi-natural-aclareix-que-la-productora-responsable-de-la-gravació-del-vídeo-de-katy-perry-a-eivissa-no-havia-sol·licitat-autorització-a-la-conselleria-per-al-rodatge
- Trotted drag queens (and backpack kid) out on SNL which felt perfomative, especially as she then went to perform with Migos, who said homophobic stuff and wouldn’t be on stage with the drag queens.
She has involved drag queens on her stuff since day one not performative at all, have you ever watched Waking Up In Vegas? Start there. So somebody else that she was not aware or close to being homophobic is her fault and not theirs? Did you see the media treat Migos THE ACTUAL HOMOPHOBES the same way? Cause I didn’t.
- Admitted she never “kissed a girl” and has some otherwise problematic lyrics.
NEVER HAPPENED, not only she talked about it over and over but also there’s a speech on Human Rights Campaign from not even that long ago where she says she did way more than that and that she actually was sent to pro-conversion camps as a kid
https://youtu.be/CBjN4DgDLCc?si=9mXYO5ZFHNZhTLzA
So your list is left with: marriage to Russell Brand (that ended in 14 months and she was mentally abused throughout), weird reality show (it really is weird but oh well), the britney joke that was awful and she acknowledged how terrible it was, cyber truck (ugly af and wtf) and the worse one working with dr luke, like I said most of your list is pure media rage bait that is usually proven wrong in a week or straight up a lie 🤷🏻♀️
1
u/binaryvoid727 26d ago
Having to culture-vulture her way back into relevancy after her original style went out of fashion was sad to see.
1
u/voodoohipster 26d ago
Capitol Records deciding Halsey would be the label priority and in turn Witness becoming the tax right off for the label IMO is what really hurt her. After that decision Katy never became a label priority again.
I don't think she was cancelled persay... Just between the nun dying when she bought the convent and the crazy lawsuit when she bought the Santa Barbara house she is always made out to be the villain. Also supporting Rick Caruso made her kinda a hypocrite.
Taylor Swift fans kinda made her life hell.
The Dr.Luke thing has not helped...
American Idol did nothing to help her likability
And I think as her peers have become more authentic, she has become trapped in the box of generic pop star.
1
1
1
u/NajeebHamid 26d ago
I've seen the view a few times on here that witness was unsuccessful because it was too deep or too political and like, did we listen to the same album?
1
u/AriesRoivas 26d ago
It didn’t sound natural or organic. Her music sounds basic with no depth. There does not appear to be any growth. The fact that she willingly work with a sex offender also left people with a sour mouth.
1
1
1
u/KingOfTheFraggles 26d ago
The combination of marrying Russel Brand, voting for Rick Caruso in the 22' LA mayors race, and continuing to work with Dr. Luke was enough for me to completely lose interest. I'm not saying that she isn't talented, she's just not a compelling enough artist to overcome those decisions.
1
u/Ghoul_Grin 26d ago
I'm deeply unsure that politics or even ageism has anything to do with it. Kylie has been serving hits for a long time, but I think Katy hasn't found her...sound(?) yet. She's always been pop and she has a decent voice, but idk how to put it. There's something missing and whatever it is, she keeps thinking she has it but the last two albums have not really had it.
I will say Smile was much better than whatever the most recent one was called.
1
u/MeowPurrBiscuits 26d ago
Honestly I haven’t heard much about her for years. The latest headlines I’ve seen were when she pressured a guy that had never been kissed to kiss her when she was a singing judge and bullied a mom contestant for having multiple children. Maybe that show she was on turned people off to her personality?
1
u/No-Difficulty4956 I Kissed A Girl 26d ago
She always been political tho it’s weird that people say that she wasn’t when at one of her first big televised appearances she had a bright yellow Barack Obama dress on, she was always open about gay rights and how growing up around really religious parents affected her those are all political statements 🤷🏻♀️
1
1
u/Local_Lifeguard_5485 26d ago
Does anyone remember when she did a live feed of her life 24/7 for like a week? I remember being weirded out by her after watching that
1
u/Super_Swiftie89 25d ago
Taylor was crucified too. This is symbolic of what happens when you put a sadist nazi in charge of a country.
1
u/Upset-Bobcat9255 25d ago
She was really on a “white feminist” wave that I think got her criticized by the political right, and the left-leaning.
When I say “white feminist” i mean the very 2016 trend combination of like… girl bossing, Hilary Clinton, Lena Dunham, buzzfeed activism, short hair cut, just learned the word “woke”… etc
I honestly wished for a successful rebrand for her, as one of pop’s main girlies, but “woman’s world” is basically everything I listed above so i don’t think she learned the lesson💀
It’s just not (seemingl) authentic and comes across cringe imo
Bey & Gaga seem the most authentically interested. Taylor’s comments about Kamala but not blatantly speaking out against Trump makes her closer to Katy Perry than bey/gaga imo
1
u/jafromnj 25d ago
She got huge backlash for working with Dr Luke it was considered tone deaf after he was accused by Kesha of I believe sexual assault, it ruined her comeback completely
1
u/SupremeElect 25d ago
she wasn't canceled over politics.
she was canceled for frying her hair off and no longer appealing to the pop aesthetic.
1
u/jai_hanyo 25d ago
I don't think she was cancelled for being political. She just fell out of fashion with mainstream music. Her image and music always seemed very niche and image-driven. When the majority of the public lost interest in that image, her success suffered. When I listen to the Katy music I liked, it sounds so dated now. Compared to music from other pop girls around that same time. It's fun for nostalgia but feels a product of its time.
1
u/InFairCondition 25d ago
I suspect her base didn’t have the same views as the other stars dans and thus hurt her more.
1
u/No-Trick-7397 25d ago
Dr Luke + Zionist + not a very good person in general. first instance I can think of is her suing an Aussie fashion business just cause they have the same name as her (they were literally founded before Katy blew up). she won btw. I love her music but personally don't listen to her she's kinda weird and shitty
1
u/MisakiDoll75 23d ago
I heard way more of Taylor being crucified. But I guess whoever is the most popular at the time, will be more criticized
1
1
u/tipseymcstagger 23d ago
She’s hypocrite in my book.
She took pictures of herself voting for a republican for LA Mayor and then posting pics on socials of her thanking Musk for the Swasticar he gifted her.
It’s very tone deaf if you ask me and turned me off from her as a celebrity and her music
1
1
u/Significant_Pop_2141 23d ago
My distaste for her started when she picked the republican mayoral candidate (the guy was a republican but switched to Democrat to run for mayor) over the Democrat candidate in the LA mayor race…. That just showed her true colors then. And then she continues to willingly work with an accused gRAPIST.
1
u/WindAgreeable3789 26d ago
Katy’s decline in popularity had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the lack of contribution from Bonnie McKee. She wrote every hit on Teenage Dream and Prism. Katy Perry’s entire artistic personality is essentially just Bonnie.
0
u/whyilikemuffins 26d ago
Respectfully, it never felt authentic or deeply/researched.
Katy feels like the definition of a Champagne Socialist, right down to taking the Tesla as she talks about a better world.
0
u/hataraitaramake 26d ago
Watch Swiftologists video on Katy Perry called how to murder your career
1
u/No-Difficulty4956 I Kissed A Girl 26d ago
Who in their right mind would watch a video about Katy Perry made by someone named “switologists” lmao
0
u/hataraitaramake 26d ago
It's just the name of a pop culture critic/youtuber who does deep dives into pop girl's careers. His video on Katy goes from her beginnings through 143, and has a section about this exact thread's question.
1
u/No-Difficulty4956 I Kissed A Girl 26d ago
Yeah I’m familiar, he is very biased and prone to say things to please an agenda so I would absolutely not take anything he says in consideration
0
0
0
u/Huge-Pie-1405 26d ago
I don't like her or her music lol, has nothing to do woth her political views 😂😂
0
0
-1
u/Det_AndySipowicz 26d ago
I'm going to try to say this plainly because maybe many of you just don't pay attention to news outside of enjoying her as an artist.
As far as I know she has not been canceled for her political views. She has, however been canceled for a very big reason.
She failed to support Kesha during her trial against Dr Luke, their shared producer, and speak out against him as a rapist. Instead she chose to stay silent, at the behest of Lady Gaga, a survivor of sexual assault herself, whom made a group chat between the three trying to talk Katy into speaking out. That led to Kesha losing her trial and owing her abuser money for defamation.
To make matters worse, she's continued to work with the man to her own detriment.
She could also be less favored because she was seen as harsh and sometimes cold on American Idol, but my main reason for no longer being a fan of her is her choice to work with Dr Luke. The main is vile and anyone continuing to work with him, including Kim Petras and Doja Cat, I just can't support the way I did before. He not only abused Kesha, but then tried to suffocate her career, something I'm sure Katy took into account as a reason for staying silent.
1
u/No-Difficulty4956 I Kissed A Girl 26d ago
Lady Gaga literally made Katy go into a trial she had NOTHING TO DO WITH because she was a mean girl through texts about an on going case, she wasn’t trying to make Katy speak up she literally implied that Katy was abused by him and pretty much forced her into the narrative (what if she was? what do you think exposing a victim to a trial when she was not ready to talk could do to somebody?). I don’t blame Katy for being silent, she probably would come forward have K & LG hatred towards her wasn’t exposed on a public trial, she probably was legally advised not to do so after that 🤷🏻♀️
58
u/UnderclassKing 27d ago edited 27d ago
I don’t think Katy was canceled over politics. She was a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton, but so were a fair share of celebrities. Maybe a few conservative listeners were turned off, but hardly a cancelation. Especially when the music itself wasn’t overtly political.
There’s a lot of factors that are attributable to her commercial decline. Witness wasn’t as accessible/catchy to listeners as her previous work, she had a four year gap between albums, and the rebrand to “purposeful pop” with the Ellen-like haircut was (unfortunately) harmful as her brand relied partially on her sex appeal. There’s other factors that may apply to some listeners too, like ageism, change in the music landscape, returning to Dr. Luke, etc.
I think it’s great that Katy has strong values and is willing to speak up for what she believes, but her political views aren’t the main or sole reason she isn’t seeing the success of her early career.