Katy Perry Says She Feels Like A "Human Piñata" Amid Online Hate
"My therapist said something years ago that has been a game changer..."
Social media hasn’t been an especially safe space for Katy Perry recently. In the wake of her controversial Blue Origin space flight on April 14, the singer has been dragged by everyone from Emily Ratajkowski to Wendy’s. When she launched her worldwide Lifetimes Tour a week later, her robotic choreography became the next viral punching bag. Perry finally opened up about how she’s dealing with the online hate in a reassuring message to her fans on April 29.
After Perry wrapped the first few Lifetime Tour shows and prepared to bring her concert to the U.S. in May, several fan accounts came together to put up a supportive billboard for the superstar in Times Square. “For the next 24 hours, a very special message from her KatyCats all over the world will be playing at Times Square,” the fan-created video stated.
The show of support caught Perry’s attention, who posted a lengthy message to her fans in the comments to reassure them that she’s weathering the backlash well.
“I can continue to remain true to myself, heart open and honest especially because of our bond,” Perry wrote to her superfans. “Please know I am OK, I have done a lot work around knowing who I am, what is real and what is important to me. My therapist said something years ago that has been a game changer, ‘No one can make you believe something about yourself that you don’t already believe about yourself’ and if I ever do have any feelings about it then it’s an opportunity to investigate the feeling underneath it.”
Perry continued, detailing how she’s learned to deal with negativity directed at her. “When the ‘online’ world tries to make me a human piñata, I take it with grace and send them love, cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed.”
She said connected with her fans at concerts is what helps her separate the real-world love from the virtual vitriol. “I’m not perfect, and I actually have omitted that word from my vocabulary, I’m on a human journey playing the game of life with an audience of many and sometimes I fall but… I get back up and go on and continue to play the game and somehow through my battered and bruised adventure I keep looking to the light and in that light a new level UNLOCKS.”
