After months of silence, Katy Perry is explaining why she recruited Dr. Luke to help produce her upcoming album.
The 13-time Grammy nominee in July returned to music after a four-year hiatus — which she spent judging “American Idol” and raising her young daughter. But her lead single “Woman’s World” fell flat after fans discovered Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald had been credited on the purported feminist anthem. Gottwald last year settled a decade-long legal battle with pop star Kesha, who in 2014 accused the producer of drugging and raping her nine years earlier.
Perry was prompted to explain her decision to involve Gottwald in her new project, to fans’ “disappointment,” during a Wednesday appearance on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“Look, I understand that it started a lot of conversations, and he was one of many collaborators that I collaborated with, but the reality is it comes from me,” Perry said. “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.”
The singer continued, saying that her new music is “really grounded” in “feeling so empowered now, as a mother, as a woman.”
“That’s where I’m speaking from,” she said. “And so I created all of this with several different collaborators, people I’ve collaborated with from the past, from ‘Teenage Dream’ era, all of that.”
Perry previously collaborated with Gottwald on her first No. 1 single “I Kissed a Girl,” as well as other hits “Hot n Cold,” “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” and “California Gurls.” Gottwald last worked on Perry’s 2013 album “Prism” but was not credited on “Witness” (2017) or “Smile” (2020), both of which arrived following Kesha’s sexual assault allegations against the producer.
Perry was roped into the legal proceedings between Kesha and Gottwald when the former alleged that the “Never Really Over” singer was also a victim of Gottwald’s abuse — a claim Perry denied.
In 2018, Perry said that she “felt pressured” to support Kesha. She also revealed that she felt like Gottwald was “using me as a pawn” and that she was “annoyed” with both parties.
Kesha and Gottwald released a joint statement after settling their slew of suits and countersuits last June.
“Only God knows what happened that night,” Kesha wrote about her alleged rape in her portion of the statement. “As I have always said, I cannot recount everything that happened. 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.”
Gottwald added: “While I appreciate Kesha again acknowledging that she cannot recount what happened that night in 2005, I am absolutely certain that nothing happened. I never drugged or assaulted her and would never do that to anyone. For the sake of my family, I have vigorously fought to clear my name for nearly 10 years. It is time for me to put this difficult matter behind me and move on with my life. I wish Kesha well.”
Aside from Perry, Gottwald has worked with artists Kim Petras, Doja Cat, and Nicki Minaj since Kesha filed her first suit against the producer in 2014.
