Katy Perry Dodges Question About Collaborating With Dr. Luke on New Album Amid Intense Backlash

Katy Perry attempted to defend herself after working with the infamous Dr. Luke on her latest album, 143.

After releasing her single “Woman’s World” back in July, the former American Idol judge began to get tons of backlash for collaborating with the alleged rapist on the project. On the most recent episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, the musician, 39, seemingly dodged responsibility for her “insensitive and problematic” actions while discussing the situation.

“I do wanna ask you about one collaborator in particular,” host Alex Cooper began. “I know a lot of people have expressed disappointment and were really upset that you decided to involve Dr. Luke on this album. Why did you choose to work with him?”

The “Teenage Dream” singer replied, “Look, I understand that it started a lot of conversations. He was one of many collaborators that I collaborated with. But the reality is, it comes from me.”

Back in 2014, Kesha accused Dr. Luke of drugging and raping her while they were working together. Despite their lengthy and contentious legal battle over the matter, Dr. Luke seems to have continued his career without facing any consequences.

Perry continued: “The truth is, I wrote these songs from my experience of my whole life going through this metamorphosis. And he was one of the people to help facilitate all that. One of the writers, one of the producers.”

The mother-of-one, who shares daughter Daisy Dove Bloom with Orlando Bloom, noted, “I am speaking from my own experience. When I speak about ‘Woman’s World,’ I speak about feeling so empowered now as a mother, as a woman, giving birth, creating life, creating another set of organs, a brain, a heart — I created a whole a-- heart!”

Perry insisted that she’s “still a matriarch,” adding, “So, I created all of this with several different collaborators — people that I’ve collaborated with from the past, from the Teenage Dream era, from all of that.”

What makes the collaboration between Perry and Dr. Luke even more ironic is that “Woman’s World” documents female empowerment and the “divine feminine.”

“S---, confident / So intelligent / She is heaven-sent / So soft, so strong / It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be living in it,” the Grammy-nominated artist sings.

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Since Kesha sued Dr. Luke for emotional distress, sexual hate crimes and employment discrimination, the music producer has denied all allegations. In response, Dr. Luke’s legal documents claimed Kesha made "defamatory statements in an attempt to extort [Dr. Luke] into releasing Kesha from her exclusive recording agreement."

Kesha and Dr. Luke finally came to a settlement over the matter in June 2023.