Katy Perry has a #MeToo problem, and she’s the one who’s in trouble.
Perry ignited a discussion around the gender-flipped version of the #MeToo movement last year when she kissed an unsuspecting American Idol contestant. The 19-year-old had just said he’d never been kissed before and wanted to be in a relationship first. So, naturally, Perry translated that to mean he would be thrilled to get his first kiss from a celebrity, which takes quite a degree of hubris.
Then last week, as the ninth anniversary of Perry’s “Teenage Dream” approached, model Josh Kloss, who worked with Perry for the titular song’s music video, took to Instagram to say that Perry had exposed his genitals to a group of people at a party.
“It was Johny Wujek’s birthday party at moonlight roller way. And when I saw her, we hugged and she was still my crush. But as I turned to introduce my friend, she pulled my Adidas sweats and underwear out as far as she could to show a couple of her guy friends and the crowd around us, my penis,” he wrote. “Can you imagine how pathetic and embarrassed i felt?”
Why speak out now? Kloss explained: “I just say this now because our culture is set on proving men of power are perverse. But females with power are just as disgusting.”
Days later, Russian journalist Tina Kandelaki accused Perry of trying to kiss her at a party without her consent, though she later said her comments had been mistranslated and she really meant to defend the singer by saying it wasn’t a big deal.
Kandelaki may not be disturbed, but she wasn’t the only one who appears to have been a victim of Perry’s nonconsensual advances. The “I Kissed a Girl” singer also made headlines in 2017 for groping singer Shawn Mendes’ rear end on the red carpet when he was just 18 years old. Mendes later apologized to Perry and said she told him she hadn’t done it.
At the time, Seventeen magazine wrote that the incident “highlights a serious double standard.” Perry seems to be continually highlighting double standards by offering examples why #MeToo isn’t just about abuse by powerful men. The movement bringing sexual harassment to light should make powerful women accountable, too.
As reporter Victoria Gagliardo-Silver wrote for the Independent, “Kloss is an alleged victim of sexual assault. He waited nine years to tell his story because he was fearful of coming out against a powerful woman who could end his career. If he was a woman and Perry was a man, his alleged assault would be all over the news and Perry would be off the radio. But that’s not the case.”
In Kloss’s case, Perry is still innocent until proven guilty, but fans should remember that considering what others have shared, such behavior wouldn’t be out of character for the singer. At the end of the day, female celebrities such as Katy Perry should own up to their actions, just like their male counterparts. Abuses of power have no gendered lines.
