Katy Perry proved she was in on the joke after The Onion took to social media on Thursday (May 1) to riff about the criticism the pop star has received as of late.
The exchange started when the satirical news site posted a photo of the singer with the headline, “Katy Perry Teases New Single ‘Stop Making Fun of Me.’” The caption to the post continued to poke fun at the star, attributing a made-up quote to her saying, “‘Working with Dr. Luke on my fav single in years—this is for the ladies out there who can’t catch a goddamn break even though they’re seriously trying their best.’”
The post also contained a sampling of lyrics to the fake song, with the caption concluding, “‘I’m not messing around anymore/ You’re killing my self-esteem with these cruel comments/ And it really hurts’ can be heard over a pounding four-on-the-floor beat.”
The “I’m His, He’s Mine” singer took The Onion‘s post in stride, and even added to the gag by chiding, “This photo is clearly photoshopped I would never let my Botox go that long, do better The Onion!” in the comments.
The singer’s loyal Katy Cats also flocked to the comments section to defend their queen, with one writing, “CAME HERE CAUSE KATY’S COMMENT ENDING THIS FLOP ACCOUNT.” Another clapped back, “Katy Perry hate is so forced” while a third wrote, “She’s a queen after all.”
Perry has withstood multiple waves of backlash in recent months for, as The Onion‘s post implies, reuniting with Dr. Luke on her latest album 143, as well as her high-profile trip to space in April as part of the Blue Origin mission.
During the 11-minute space flight, Perry unveiled the setlist for her Lifetimes Tour live from zero gravity — giving the internet further fodder to turn into memes, gifs and running jokes.
Others in The Onion’s comment section couldn’t help but keep the bit going. “New single titled ‘girls just need space’ released with a music video featuring astronaut recently stuck in space for 9 months. Receives immediate backlash,” one Instagram user joked. “Involuntarily added to your playlists over on amazon music,” quipped another.
Check out The Onion’s joke and Perry’s response here.
