Katy Perry gave an uncontrolled speech while accepting the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards.
The pop star accepted the VMA award for lifetime achievement from her partner Orlando Bloom, who called her by her birth name Katheryn Hudson.
Perry accepted the award after performing a medley of her hits, including “I Kissed a Girl,” “California Gurls” and “ET,” as well as new tracks from her upcoming album, “Lifetimes” and “I’m His, He’s Mine” featuring Doechii. “Woman’s World” was not on the setlist.
“Thank you. I did all of this on the first day of my period, if you can believe it,” Perry told the cheering crowd.
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After reflecting on her career, Perry thanked her team, family and fans, adding a shout-out to Bloom for “doing the dishes,” a nod to her risqué “Call Her Daddy” interview earlier this month in which she said she enjoys exchanging sexual favors with her husband in exchange for doing chores. She added a thank you to her four-year-old daughter Daisy Dove: “The only flowers I’ll ever need.”
The “Firework” singer thanked MTV for “believing in my craziness from day one.” She said that to have a “long and successful career,” many things had to fall into place. She also gave critics a piece of her mind, saying, “There are no decades-long accidents,” before taking a dramatic break.
She praised the “amazing” young artists who “operate with confidence, drive, vulnerability and authenticity.” She then advised her fellow artists not to be influenced by social media.
“I’ve learned to tune out all the noise that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against, especially women,” she said. “I just want to say from the bottom of my heart: Do whatever it takes to be true to yourself and your art. Turn off social media. Take care of your mental health. Take a break. Touch the grass. And do what you were born to do, like I was born to do.”
Perry’s speech may be referring to recent reactions, including to the first single from her new album “143”, “Woman’s World”.
The Grammy-nominated singer received terrible reviews for her single and accompanying music video in July. After its release, she defended the video in an Instagram post, telling her fans that it was intended as a parody. “YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!” she wrote. “EVEN SATIRE!”
The singer was also criticized for his collaboration with controversial music producer Dr. Luke.
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On Call Her Daddy, Perry dodged host Alex Cooper’s question about her collaboration with “a particular collaborator,” noting that “a lot of people have expressed disappointment and been really upset that you chose to work with” him.
“I understand it sparked a lot of conversations, and he was one of many collaborators I worked with, but the reality is (the music) comes from me,” Perry told Cooper. “The truth is, I wrote these songs from my experience going through this metamorphosis of my whole life, and he was one of the people who helped make it all possible.”
Contributors: Brendan Morrow and Jay Stahl
