Katy Perry has been accused of “mum-shaming” by an upset American Idol contestant.
Viewers have also labelled the singer’s treatment – and, to a lesser extent, that of her co-judges Lionel Ritchie and Luke Bryan – of 25-year-old contestant Sara Beth as “rude”.
Their dismissive attitude came to the fore when Sara Beth started singing Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good.
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Katy quickly interrupted and shouted: “Come on, we need more!”
The I Kissed a Girl star then offered up no applause after Sara Beth had finished her audition and told her that the performance had “not been enough”, whilst instructing her to attempt a different song.
(Image: ABC via Getty Images)
And if that was harsh in itself, many felt Katy really over-stepped the mark when she poked fun at Sara Beth being a mum-of-three before the age of 25 prior to her even singing a single word.
Katy, who is 38 and has a two-year-old daughter, pretended she was about to faint after learning about the size of Sara Beth’s family.
In response, the contestant said: “If Katy lays on the table, I think I’m going to pass out.”
But Sara Beth was then subjected to more sarcasm from Californian Katy, who replied: “Honey, you been laying on the table too much.”
Many outraged members of the TV audience deemed Katy’s comments to be offensive and rude.
“‘You’ve been laying on the table too much’ was such an offensive joke,” one viewer commented under a clip of the audition.
(Image: American Idol/ABC)
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Another agreed, writing: “‘I think you’ve been on your back a little too much’ – Katy Perry. How RUDE they treated her like pure s***!”
Sara Beth, meanwhile, has taken to TikTok to have her own say on the incident.
She said: “At the start of my audition, before I sang, I mentioned that I had three children and was a young mother, and Katy Perry made a joke that wasn’t super kind. It was embarrassing to have that on TV. And it was hurtful.”
Encouraging her followers to support rather than deride young parents, Sara Beth added: “I think that women supporting and uplifting other women is so cool, and I think that mum-shaming is super lame. It’s hard enough to be a mum and it’s hard enough to be a woman.”
“Keep loving your babies. Nobody deserves to feel crappy about that.
“I think, if you’re a good mama and you love your babies, that’s all that really matters and other comments don’t feel necessary.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
