Katy Perry Addresses Controversial Encounter With Besieged Dr. Luke on New Album ‘143’

After months of silence, Katy Perry explains why she hired Dr. Luke to help produce her upcoming album.

The 13-time Grammy nominee returned to music in July after a four-year hiatus — which she spent as a judge on “American Idol” and raising her infant daughter. But her lead single, “Woman’s World,” went down badly with fans when they discovered that Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald was mentioned in the supposed feminist anthem. Last year, Gottwald settled a decade-long legal battle with pop star Kesha, who accused the producer in 2014 of drugging her and raping her nine years earlier.

Read more:How Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and TMZ Got Dragged Into Kesha and Dr. Luke’s Legal Battle

During an appearance on the Alex Cooper show on Wednesday, Perry decided to explain her decision to bring Gottwald on board with her new project, much to the “disappointment” of fans. “Call her daddy” podcast.

“Look, I understand that this started a lot of conversations, and he was one of the many collaborators that I worked with, but the truth is that it came from me,” Perry said. “The truth is that I wrote these songs based on my experiences throughout my life, going through this metamorphosis. And he was one of the people who helped facilitate all of that.”

The singer added that her new music is “really grounded” in “feeling like I’m strong now, as a mother, as a woman.”

“That’s where I’m coming from,” she said. “And so I created this whole thing with a bunch of different collaborators, people I’ve worked with in the past, from the 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 (TGIF)” and “California Gurls.” Gottwald most recently worked on Perry’s 2013 album, Prism, but was not credited on Witness (2017) or Smile (2020), which came in the wake of Kesha’s sexual assault allegations against the producer.

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Perry was drawn into the legal proceedings between Kesha and Gottwald when the former alleged that the “Never Really Over” singer had also been the victim of abuse by Gottwald — which Perry denied.

In 2018, Perry said that “I felt pressure” to support Kesha. She also revealed that she felt Gottwald was “using me as a pawn” and that she was “annoyed” with both sides.

Kesha and Gottwald issued a joint statement after settling a series of lawsuits and countersuits last June.

“Only God knows what happened that night,” Kesha wrote of her alleged rape in part of her statement. “As I have always said, I cannot tell you everything that happened. I cannot wait to close the door on this chapter of my life and begin a new one. I wish all parties involved only peace.”

Gottwald added, “While I appreciate Kesha once 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 I would never do that to anyone. For the sake of my family, I have fought vigorously for almost 10 years to clear my name. It is time for me to put this difficult matter behind me and move on with my life. I wish Kesha nothing but the best.”

In addition to Perry, Gottwald has worked with artists Kim Petras, Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj since Kesha first filed suit against the producer in 2014.

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This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.