In a new interview, the country music star defends the 'Fireworks' singer as she faces huge backlash from the long-running singing competition show's viewers over her controversial comments.
- Jun 14, 2023
AceShowbiz - Katy Perry finds a supporter in Luke Bryan. In a new interview, the country music star defends his fellow "American Idol" judge amid criticism from the long-running singing competition show's viewers over her controversial comments.
"Katy gets picked on for going out and trying to have fun making a TV show," Luke said to Fox News while attending the Country Music Association (CMA) Fest on Monday, June 12. "You can't be so safe in the moment that you're so homogenized, you can't ever go for a joke or go for a fun moment. Sometimes, you just gotta say stuff."
Luke also said that fans are "too hard" on the "Dark Horse" hitmaker. "Katy Perry's been dealing with stuff like that her whole career," he divulged. "We all get it. I mean, we're judging kids that people at home fall in love with, so we're not gonna bat 1,000 as judges."
Luke additionally thought that he, Katy and Lionel Richie "get set up" as judges on the show. "We kind of fall on the sword a lot of times and get set up to where people can get very vocal on socials and stuff," he went on noting. "My thing is, I think when me and Lionel and Katy sit down at the desk, in our hearts we're doing the best we can."
He said that when Katy does "roll the dice on TV" by making comments, how those get "perceived" can lead to backlash, adding, "It may be my year next year." He elaborated, "We're conditioned and calloused for it. Katy's been dealing with that. On a whole it makes me appreciate her even more, just how big of a scale she's had to deal with that her whole career."
Luke isn't the only one publicly defending Katy. Prior to this, "American Idol" finalist Oliver Steele defended Katy as she was accused of being a bully on the show. "Katy is not a bully, nor does she shame people," Oliver wrote on his page on May 27 alongside two pictures of himself with the "Fireworks" singer. "I remember being nervous at my audition, nervous during Hollywood week, hell even nervous throughout various points in the competition."
The 25-year-old singer went on to say, "Katy has an incredible ability to not just tell what emotional state you're in, but to be able to tell what's holding you back." He also said that while he loves "all the judges," Katy was "able to look into my soul and tell exactly what was troubling me" or what he was struggling with.
"It's one thing to teach someone to believe in their ability, which the judges are fabulous at. Katy reminded me to believe in who I am as an artist. She challenged me to push myself, to take on challenges that made me uncomfortable. I'm a better musician and artist after Katy Perry pushed me to believe in my potential, and to exceed my limitations," he continued.
Amid the backlash, it was reported that Katy wanted to "quit" the show over concern of being misrepresented by the series. The 38-year-old pop star allegedly felt she had been repeatedly "thrown under the bus by the producers." and believed that the FOX show's edit made her appear to be a "nasty judge."
