Katy Perry Says She Got Depressed After “Witness” Flopped
Whether you’re into her corny cotton-candy fever dream aesthetic or not, we can all agree that Katy Perry has had some massive hits in her career. We can also all agree that nearly none of those hits came from her most recent album Witness, which was a letdown on the charts. Katy obviously thought Witness was going to be hugely celebrated, and when it wasn’t, she got depressed.
Katy’s Witness: The Tour is heading to Australia for a dozen or so shows. Her friend Derek Blasberg caught up with her in Paris back in May to interview her for Vogue Australia, and they mostly chatted about her crush on Pope Francis and a little Orlando Bloom (Katy would only say Derek could “mention him“).
But they also covered Katy’s recent visit to the California-based Hoffman Institute, a personal-growth retreat that helped her release anything that was holding her back from being her “ultimate self.” That made me picture Katy dumping her whipped cream bra into a ceremonial fire, but it wasn’t like that. It was more like therapy that helped Katy through the pain of 2017, the year Witness was released. Katy intended for the album to be what she called “purposeful pop“, and she knows some people heard one single and purposely avoided listening to anymore of it.
“I have had bouts of situational depression and my heart was broken last year because, unknowingly, I put so much validity in the reaction of the public, and the public didn’t react in the way I had expected to…which broke my heart.”
The trial of Witness’ crappy reception paired with soul-searching and writing a big fat check to the Hoffman Institute, helped her through it all.
“Music is my first love and I think it was the universe saying: ‘Okay, you speak all of this language about self-love and authenticity, but we are going to put you through another test and take away any kind of validating “blankie.” Then we’ll see how much you do truly love yourself.’ That brokenness, plus me opening up to a greater, higher power and reconnecting with divinity, gave me a wholeness I never had. It gave me a new foundation. It’s not just a material foundation: it’s a soul foundation.”
Katy also compares people to computers, saying that overtime we adopt viruses from our parents or society that play out in our adult relationships. And I guess that self-help program she was in was sort of like a spiritual Norton Anti-Virus. All this talk about viruses from Katy Perry’s past, and not one mention of John Mayer? Poor guy probably feels so left out.
Pic: Emma Summerton/Vogue Australia