Pop star Katy Perry spoke publicly about working with producer Dr. Luke after he was accused of sexual misconduct.
Dr. Luke—whose given name is Łukasz Gottwald—is a veteran music producer and record label owner who has worked with major stars such as Avril Lavigne, Kim Petras, and Britney Spears. But he is perhaps best known for accusations made against him by singer Kesha in 2014. He denied the allegations. Kesha left her record label and recording contract with his Kemosabe Records after a 10-year battle and Dr. Luke then sued Kesha for defamation, which they settled out of court in June 2023.
Perry and Dr. Luke worked together on some of her biggest tracks including “I Kissed a Girl” and “California Gurls.” But following Kesha’s allegations, many music artists, especially women, were called on not to work with Dr. Luke.
Perry came under fire this year when it was revealed her new single, “Woman’s World,” was produced by Dr. Luke.
Katy Perry, left, appears with Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald as he accepts the Songwriter of the Year award at the 27th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards in Los Angeles on April 21, 2010. She defended working with him on her new album.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
She defended the decision on Wednesday’s edition of the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper.
“I do want to ask you about one collaborator in particular, I know a lot of people have expressed disappointment and were really upset that you decided to involve Dr. Luke on this album. Why did you choose to work with him?” Cooper asked the singer.
Perry replied by saying she understood “it started a lot of conversations” but “he was one of many collaborators that I collaborated with” for her upcoming album, 143.
“But the reality is, it comes from me. The truth is, I wrote these songs from my experience of my whole life going through this metamorphosis, and he was one of the people to help facilitate all that, one of the writers, one of the producers,” said Perry.
“I am speaking from my own experience. Like, when I speak about a ‘Woman’s World,’ I speak about feeling so empowered, now as a mother, as a woman giving birth creating life, creating another set of organs, a brain, a heart, I created a whole a** heart and I did it and I’m still doing it.”
Perry is mom to daughter Daisy, 3, with partner and Lord of the Rings actor Orlando Bloom.
She concluded by saying, “I’m still a matriarch and feeling really grounded in that, that’s where I’m speaking from. And so I created all of this with several different collaborators and people that have I collaborated with from the past from ‘Teenage Dream era.'”
