Katy Perry is facing a wave of criticism from her fans this week due to circulating rumors that she collaborated with the controversial music producer Dr. Luke. Some eagle-eyed social media users noticed that on the music website Genius, Perry’s upcoming new single was listed as “Woman’s World” with Dr. Luke (real name Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald), 50, noted as a co-producer.
After months of teasing what fans have nicknamed “KP6,” Perry, 39, officially announced the lead single from the album, “Woman’s World,” set to be released on July 11th, and even shared a brief ten-second teaser. This album marks the former American Idol judge’s return to music after a four-year hiatus. It has already ignited a lot of heated discussions on social media.
Just hours after Perry’s announcement, Kesha took to Twitter with a cryptic “lol,” which many interpreted as a jab linked to the swirling rumors. A subsequent Rolling Stone report suggested that Perry had indeed worked with Dr. Luke on her new album.
This connection is especially contentious given that Kesha, 37, accused Dr. Luke, her former long-time producer, of sexual assault and emotional abuse back in 2014. He retaliated with a defamation lawsuit, leading to a prolonged legal battle that only reached a resolution last year.
Across TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter), many of Perry’s fans couldn’t help but notice the irony in a song that supposedly champions female empowerment being co-produced by someone with accusations of abuse against them. Meanwhile, others found themselves fixated on the song snippet, sparking a wave of “AI-generated” jokes and likening it to the kind of tunes you’d hear while shopping at a department store or watching “toilet paper” commercials.
Soon after the “Roar” hitmaker shared the snippet of “Woman’s World” to TikTok on June 17th, one fan commented beneath her post: “This…. is the comeback?” as another added: “I could make this on garage band.” Someone else quipped: “was this written by ai?”
Beneath her similar Instagram post on the same day, another commenter noted: “This song is actually painful to listen to” as one other replied: “This song sounds terrible. Lol we need the summer of 2010 Katy back.”
Others expressed their qualms with the Dr. Luke production rumors. “Releasing a woman’s empowerment song with an [alleged] ABUSER as the producer is insane and totally tone deaf,” someone wrote as another commented: “Good luck with Dr. Puke.”
After seven memorable years as a judge on American Idol, Perry revealed back in February that she has decided to hang up her judging hat and dive back into the world of music creation. While fans eagerly await the announcement of her successor on the show, Perry is already hitting the studio and crafting new tunes.
“I love Idol so much, it’s connected me with the heart of America,” the “California Gurls” artist told host Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live! earlier this year. She went on to say: “But I feel like I need to go out to feel that pulse of my own beat.”
For her upcoming sixth album, Katy Perry worked with some of the producers who helped craft hits on Teenage Dream and Prism, Rolling Stone has learned. The pop singer reconnected with Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Stargate, and several others for KP6, the informal name for her first album in more than four years.
“Katy knew exactly the album she wanted to make and put together the team to make it happen,” a Capitol Records source confirms to Rolling Stone. “And that includes previous collaborators including Luke, Stargate, Max Martin, and Sarah Hudson, and some new heavy hitters such as Vaughn Oliver, Rocco Valdes, and Theron Thomas.”
The news comes two days after Perry shared a 15-second TikTok video teasing an electro-pop, self-empowering single titled “Woman’s World,” out July 11.
Luke and Martin have worked on many of Perry’s biggest hits, including smashes from her first three albums like One of the Boys‘ “I Kissed a Girl.” The production pair teamed up on Teenage Dream‘s title track, “Last Friday Night,” “California Gurls,” “E.T.,” and “The One That Got Away” along with the vast majority of Prism, including chart-toppers “Dark Horse,” “Unconditionally,” and “Roar.”
Meanwhile, Stargate co-produced “Firework” and “Peacock” from Teenage Dream, “This Moment” from Prism, and “Resilient” from Smile. On the songwriting side, Hudson worked with Perry on Witness‘ “Hey Hey Hey” and Smile‘s “What Makes a Woman.”
As for Perry’s new collaborators, Oliver and Valdes have co-produced many of Kim Petras’ records, with Vaughn taking on most of Problématique and Valdes producing much of Slut Pop. Thomas, for his part, has writing credits with Petras, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, and Charli XCX.
Perry has been teasing a new era of music for almost two years now. In late 2022, she told Rolling Stone she was “never not” writing. And just before the conclusion of her Las Vegas Play residency, she told Good Morning America, “I think that I’m writing a lot and have written a lot from a place of love because I’m feeling so much of it — so much unconditional love, that love you never knew existed.” Perry announced she was leaving American Idol in February, after seven seasons on the competition show, to focus on music. She’s also teased a world tour.
The news of her KP6 collaborators on the new music comes about a year after Kesha and Dr. Luke settled his defamation lawsuit, years after Kesha filed against the producer in 2014 alleging sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Luke countersued, claiming the singer had defamed him. In statements last June, Kesha said that “only God knows what happened” on the night she claimed she was raped, while Luke maintained his innocence.
Users on X began to speculate about Luke’s involvement on KP6 after Kesha tweeted, “lol,” just hours after Perry’s announcement.
Katy Perry is facing criticism for working with music producer Dr. Luke on her upcoming sixth studio album, almost seven years after becoming involved in his legal battle with Kesha. According to Rolling Stone, Perry is collaborating with several producers, including Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Stargate, who contributed to her previous albums “Teenage Dream” and “Prism.”
Fans of Kesha have expressed their displeasure, viewing Perry’s decision as a betrayal. Kesha herself appeared to acknowledge the news by posting “lol” on X (formerly Twitter) without additional context, following speculation about Perry’s collaboration with Dr. Luke.
Kesha accused Dr. Luke of sexual assault in a 2014 lawsuit, which he denied, subsequently suing Kesha for defamation. Kesha dropped her lawsuit in August 2016, but Dr. Luke’s defamation case was not settled until June 2023. At that time, Kesha stated, “Only God knows what happened that night … I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved.”
It remains unclear if Dr. Luke has produced Perry’s forthcoming single “Woman’s World” or other tracks on the album. Despite the backlash, Perry has not yet addressed the controversy.
Some social media users noticed that music site Genius had listed Perry’s new song as “Woman’s World” with Dr. Luke credited as a co-producer. Genius is a music information website whose information is uploaded by the public, and verified by in-house editors, according to its website. Newsweek cannot verify the collaboration and has contacted Perry and Dr Luke’s representatives via email for comment. We also emailed Genius for comment. Dr. Luke—whose given name is Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald—is a prolific music producer who has worked with stars such as Avril Lavigne, Kim Petras, and Britney Spears. He previously worked with Perry on many of her songs, including the hits “I Kissed a Girl” and “California Gurls.”
Accusations by singer Kesha against the music producer in October 2014 brought him under scrutiny. Kesha left her record label and recording contract with his Kemosabe Records label after a 10-year battle, after she had accused him of sexual and emotional abuse. The producer has denied the allegations. He later sued Kesha for defamation in a case they eventually settled out of court in June 2023. Since going public with her allegations, many musicians have come under fire for continuing to work with Dr. Luke, especially female artists. The latest to receive backlash is Perry over the unconfirmed song credits on Genius. Even Kesha herself was speculated to have weighed in on the news. “lol,” she simply wrote on X, formerly Twitter on Monday, with fans rushing to ask her if this was “Katy shade?”
People asked the same thing over on Reddit. “Kesha seemingly responds to rumors that Katy Perry’s upcoming single/album was produced by Dr. Luke,” one person wrote in the r/FauxMoi subreddit. User babysfirstbreath wrote: “Katy and Kesha knew each other before either one blew up so extra gross.” Newsweek has emailed Kesha’s representatives for comment. People also reacted to Perry’s supposed return to collaborating with Dr. Luke. “katy perry darling please ditch dr luke and just pump out an album of this,” wrote @GRIT0DESAUDADE alongside a snippet of the video for her song “Never Really Over.” “Yo@katyperry a badly written women’s empowerment anthem produced by DR LUKE is not the look,” added @robtswthrayguns. Some suggested waiting for verification about the production credits from Perry before passing judgment. “A lot of you (including Kesha) are going to have egg on your face when you find out Dr Luke had no involvement in Katy’s single. You fall for the same stan trickery every. single. time. We need to extend the school day I think..” wrote @ohmygodthatshot.
Perry has started making new music after announcing her departure from judging duties on American Idol. She bid farewell to her stint as judge after seven years, but her replacement is yet to be announced. “I love Idol so much, it’s connected me with the heart of America,” the singer said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in February after announcing she was leaving. “But I feel like I need to go out to feel that pulse of my own beat.”
Source: Rolling Stone, Newsweek
