ICYMI The Internet Has Kept Katy Perry’s Receipts
Apr 22, 2026
Scaachi Koul, Slate senior writer known for sharp cultural criticism, revisits Katy Perry’s fall from pop darling to online punchline. She unpacks fading relevance, problematic lyrics and appropriation, and boundary controversies resurfacing online. Short takes on relationships with power, performance choices, and whether the change is Katy’s or ours.
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Poptimism Made Katy Perry Relatable
- Katy Perry's brand succeeded by packaging brash, feminist-tinged pop in digestible, mainstream-friendly visuals.
- Scaachi Koul cites Teenage Dream's record-breaking appeal and songs like You're So Gay as emblematic of that bite-sized feminism.
Cultural Appropriation Undermined Her Brand
- Katy Perry's repeated cultural appropriation and tone-deaf visuals eroded goodwill as audiences grew more critical.
- Scaachi points to AMAs geisha performance, cornrows in This Is How We Do, and the insincerity of later visuals.
Hypocrisy Amplifies When The Music Loses Heat
- Working with controversial collaborators made Perry's feminist messaging feel hollow when the music and messaging weakened.
- Scaachi highlights the dissonance of releasing Woman's World with Dr. Luke and conspicuous Bezos associations.