Katy Perry has had another howler just days after her new single got slammed by critics.
Now, she’s caught the eye of England football fans after trying to share a message of support to the Three Lions before Sunday’s heartbreaking loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Hours before kickoff, the Roar hitmaker excitedly tweeted ‘FOOTBALL IS COMING HOME’ – so far so good.
However, the issue came with the flag emoji she used for her post on X, as she went with the Union Jack, which obviously represents the UK as a whole, rather than St George’s Cross for England.
‘This is the flag,’ wrote fan @JonBerghal alongside the correct flag, adding: ‘You’re welcome.’
‘England ≠ United Kingdom,’ pointed out @ionafyfe, while @DBW77 helpfully explained: ‘That’s the wrong flag Katy. Not everyone in the UK will be supporting England.’
Not everyone was quite so kind, as @NicholasLissack ranted: ‘You clearly don’t care – you didn’t even get the flag right. Stop latching onto trends to try and be relevant. It’s pathetic.’
And several people replied: ‘Thanks sis next time try to use the correct flag.’
It comes after Katy claimed that her widely criticised come back single is actually ‘satire’- but many fans aren’t so sure.
Her new track, Woman’s World, opens with the line ‘It’s a woman’s world and you’re lucky to be living in it’ and is accompanied by a music video that depicts Katy and her dancers doing traditionally masculine jobs while scantily clad.
Many people feel the song – her first since 2021 – offers surface level, reductive feminism combined with a video catered to the male gaze.
Critics have also slammed it, with The Cut not seeing Woman’s World as nostalgic, but as the result of a ‘2010 relic’ and ‘faded pop star frantically attempting to clamber back to relevance’.
The Guardian called it ‘garbage’ while admitting the track was ‘infernally catchy’ and gave it one star.
Pitchfork said the video indicated Katy ‘had to have feminism explained to her by the top half of the first page ofGoogle.’
‘Defying all sense of taste, the pop singer’s comeback single is too dispiriting to even approach camp. It’s abysmal,’ it continued.
Seemingly in response to all this bad press, Katy recently took to X to claim that the song is actually satire. She wrote: ‘YOU CAN DO ANYTHING! EVEN SATIRE!’
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING! EVEN SATIRE! pic.twitter.com/aHFTqcvCVm
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) July 13, 2024
In the accompanying video, which appears to have been taken behind the scenes on the music video set, Katy says: ‘Girl boss sh*t! You can do it! You go girl! You were born to shine! And we’re kind of just having fun being sarcastic with it, its very slapstick and very on the nose.
‘And with this set it’s like “oooh, we’re not about the male gaze but we really are about the male gaze!” and we’re really overplaying it and on the nose because we’re about to get smashed.
‘Which is like a reset, a reset for me and a reset for my idea of feminine divine and its a whole different world we got to after this. We wanted to open this video making it look like a super high gloss popstar video and that’s what it is.’
But fans aren’t so sure that Katy’s claims of satire are believable.
X user @eternalc*mslime wrote: ‘she heard the critics and thought what load of nothing can i say to defend myself😭😭😭’
@lamborghinibank fired back at Katy: ‘Without any discernible critique of the system that creates the circ*mstances ostensibly being “satirized” in the first place, it isn’t “satire,” it’s just aimless caricature.’
@moorehn posted: ‘Hey quick question, why are you “satirizing” women for trying to survive in a system that is hostile to them while not critiquing the men who created and benefit from that system? It’s a tough question so ask Dr. Luke if you need help with it.’
To be fair to the singer, there is no way of interpreting the video as anything but extremely campy. At one point, she and a number of other women pose on scaffolding in a picture mimicking the famous shot, Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, taken in New York in 1932.
She also recreates the Rosie the Riveter poster of a woman flexing her muscles, representing women who worked in factories during World War II.
Midway through the video, Katy is crushed but inflates herself as a ‘super human’ robot, and proceeds to fill herself up with gas via her bum cheek. Nice.
It also sees an appearance from YouTuber TrishaPaytas, who miraculously drags a huge monster truck using just a rope. The star then then drives said jeep – after presumably sorting out the mechanics – with Katy in the passenger seat, haphazardly applying makeup all over her face.
The star struts around in a white bikini and armour leggings, before flying off on the side of a helicopter and exclaiming: ‘I’m Katy Perry!’
Some fans loved the song and video, taking to social media to express their excitement.
‘The jet black hair, the slightly weird music videos, the dance pop sound. Oh Katy Perry is BACK!!!’ raved @EthelJung-j5w.
YouTube user @TACHAYA wrote, ‘KATY PERRY is BACK,’ while others were in bits over Trisha’s appearance as @genshinF2Play said: ‘Trisha, the only youtuber who manage to stay relevant since the inception of youtube. Now thats a f***king flex.;
‘It’s Katy’s world and we’re lucky to be living in it,’ wrote @MystyLena.
‘NEW KATY PERRY ERA IS STARTING.’ wrote @claudiajordan336, while @Vishav02 said: ‘I can’t get over how amazing this chorus is!’
‘”I’m Katy Perry,” is actually emotional. no mother we never forgot you,’ said @shakuntalashakuntala1849.
Regardless of fan’s sentiments, the Roar singer’s sixth studio album 143will be released on September 20, and this first single from it feels like a sign of things to come – for better or worse.
The release of Woman’s World comes after Katy was slammed as ‘morally bankrupt’ when it was reported that controversial producer Dr Luke, 50, is attached to her upcoming album.
Vulture said Dr Luke’s presence on the album ‘negates the song’s entire message’ of feminism and said fans can ‘hear more compelling takes on womanhood’ from other stars.
A report fromRolling Stonenamed some of Katy’s collaborators on the new project, and many fans were shocked and appalled to see the music producer and songwriter’s name among them.
Dr Luke previously worked with Perry on many of her songs, including I Kissed a Girl and California Gurls.
Responsible for dozens of massive hits over the past couple of decades, Dr Luke’s name became most notorious for the allegations made against him by pop superstar Kesha, who accused him of years of sexual and emotional abuse.
Dr Luke sued her for defamation shortly after, sparking several years of legal battles that resolved in both partiesagreeing to settleand move on last year.
The entertainment industry seemed to mostly support Kesha, with singers like Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus, and Lady Gaga all rushing to back the We R Who We R singer.
In 2014, Kesha reportedly texted Lady Gaga that the producer had raped Perry,a claim that Perry herself denied in courtand which was ruled as defamation by the New York Supreme Court.
Perry has had five UK number one singles over the years, including I Kissed A Girl, California Gurls and Roar, as well as two number one albums in Teenage Dream and Prism.
Her last album was 2020’s Smile which reached number five in the UK albums chart.
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