Katy Perry's Biggest Scandals Explored: From Ruby Rose's Sexual Assault Allegations to Mom-Shaming and More

Katy Perry has weathered her fair share of controversies throughout her two-decade career.

One of the singers most talked-about firestorms was her legal showdown with Sydney-based fashion designer Katie Taylor (née Perry), who applied to register the "Katie Perry" trademark in September 2008 for the sale of her clothes. The filing was submitted a few months after Perry dropped her debut single, "I Kissed a Girl."

In October 2008, the "Dark Horse" songstress' team created an online store selling Katy Perry-branded merchandise when she had her first performance in Australia. Then, in May 2009, Perry filed a notice of opposition to the registration of Taylor's trademark in addition to sending cease-and-desist letters to the designer.

An Australian High Court ruled in favor of Taylor in March, ending the 16-year trademark dispute.

"This case has never just been about a name," Taylor shared after the ruling. "It has been about protecting small business in Australia, for standing up for what is right and showing that we all matter."

Perry drew flak when she emerged onto the stage at the 2013 American Music Awards for a Geisha-inspired performance. She sang her hit track "Unconditionally" while sporting white powder makeup, a floral kimono and a wagasa, a traditional Japanese umbrella.

She acknowledged her mistake during an appearance on the "Pod Save the People" podcast a few years after she was accused of cultural appropriation.

"Even in my intention to appreciate Japanese culture, I did it wrong with a performance, and I didn't know that I did it wrong until I heard people saying I did it wrong," she admitted.

The singer added, "Sometimes that's what it takes, is it takes someone to say — out of compassion, out of love — 'This is where the origin is, do you understand?' And not just like, a clapback. Because it's hard to hear those clapbacks sometimes. And your ego just wants to turn from them. I've been so grateful to have great teachers and great friends who will really hold me accountable, even when I said I wasn't a feminist because I didn't know what that word meant."

In 2015, Perry serenaded fans during a performance in Taipei, Taiwan, while wearing a dress with a sunflower design. The outfit sparked widespread outrage as the flower became an anti-China and pro-Taiwan symbol.

Chinese officials denied her visa request before a Victoria's Secret event in Shanghai in 2017 and indefinitely ban her from the country.

The "Roar" singer caused a major uproar when her high-profile legal dispute over the purchase of a former Catholic convent began in 2015.

Perry reportedly tried to purchase the 8-acre property for $14.5 million at the time, but Sister Catherine Rose Holzman and Sister Rita Callanan of the Immaculate Heart of Mary opposed the sale as they believed the songwriter was not the right person to own the property. They later sold it to a local restaurant owner, prompting Perry to sue the nuns. The sale ultimately was contested and invalidated.

The court ultimately ruled the Archdiocese of Los Angeles had the legal authority to sell the property, giving Perry the right to purchase it.

Perry's real estate woes continued after she and Orlando Bloom purchased disabled veteran Carl Westcott's Montecito home for $15 million in 2020. Days after securing the deal, Westcott argued he did not fully understand the contract when he signed it as he was still recovering from spinal surgery.

It turned into a high-profile court battle when Westcott filed a lawsuit to cancel the sale, but a California judge awarded Perry $1.8 million in damages. The case also led to the creation of the 2023 bill, the Katy PERRY Act, which highlights "the risks of elder financial abuse, especially as it relates to property and real estate sales and transfers."

During the American Idol Season 16, Perry generated massive backlash when she kissed contestant Benjamin Glaze after he revealed he had never been kissed. He later told The New York Times the moment left him uncomfortable since he wanted it "to be special."

In 2023, the "The One That Got Away" singer came under fire over the comment she made to contestant Sara Beth Liebe, a mom-of-three.

"Honey, you've been laying on the table too much," Perry told the matriarch, which audiences viewed as offensive and inconsiderate.

Liebe dropped out of American Idol a few weeks later.

"It was hurtful and that's that. I think that women supporting and uplifting other women is so cool, and I think that mom-shaming is super lame and I think that it's hard enough to be a mom and it's hard enough to be a woman," she said of the mom-shaming incident in a since-deleted TikTok video.

Perry raised eyebrows when she joined an all-female Blue Origin spaceflight in 2025, with people calling it tone-deaf amid economic struggles.

Social media users also brutally mocked the "Harleys In Hawaii" singer for kissing the ground upon returning to Earth after the 11-minute trip.

In a series of explosive posts on Threads, Australian actress Ruby Rose claimed Perry sexually assaulted her at a nightclub in Melbourne nearly two decades ago, when the Around the Block star was in her early 20s.

"She saw me 'resting' on my best friend's lap to avoid her and bent down, pulled her underwear to the side and rubbed her disgusting v----- on my face until my eyes snapped open and I projectile vomited on her," she recalled. "I told the story publicly but changed it to be a 'funny little drunk story' because I didn't know how else to handle it. Later she agreed to help me get my US visa. So I kept it a secret. But I DID tell yall she wasn't a good person. Instead I got attacked by... everyone."

She filed a police report, which prompted detectives from the Melbourne Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse Investigation Team to launch a probe into "a historical sexual assault" that occurred "at a licensed premises in Melbourne's Central Business District."

A representative for Perry responded to the claims in a statement to an outlet on April 13.

"The allegations being circulated on social media by Ruby Rose about Katy Perry are not only categorically false, they are dangerous reckless lies," said the spokesperson. "Ms. Rose has a well-documented history of making serious public allegations on social media against various individuals, claims that have repeatedly been denied by those named."

Further escalating the drama, Perry's "Teenage Dream" music video costar Josh Kloss shared similar allegations involving the pop star.

Speaking to Page Six, Kloss opened up about the "silent trauma" he said he endured after Perry allegedly exposed his private parts during a 2012 party.

"It's hard to bring up something that seems irrelevant to a lot of people," said Kloss, adding he felt it was "important" to be "brave" and "show [his] face and explain [himself]."

"The world can judge me, you know?" he continued.