"Y'all didn't know who Jeffrey Dahmer was until last week": Katy Perry's Dark Horse backlash leaves internet divided 

Katy Perry is receiving immense flak on social media after her 2013 hit track, Dark Horse, has resurfaced online for the wrong reasons. The popular song, which is known for its catchy tune, however has some disturbing lyrics referring to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, which has upset netizens.

While some slammed Perry, others came to her rescue claiming she did nothing wrong.

Dark Horse is a part of Katy Perry’s 2013 album, Prism. Although the song went on to rank at top spots in global music charts, many are finding the song controversial now, nine years later as they noted how the song refers to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Rapper Juicy J sings in the song:

“Uh, she’s a beast/ I call her Karma (come back)/ She eats your heart out like Jeffrey Dahmer (whoa!)”

In the music video, Katy Perry can be seen portraying an Egyptian queen, with an uncanny resemblance to Cleopatra.

For those unaware, Dahmer murdered over a dozen gay boys and young men of color between 1978 and 1991. He was later deemed a cannibalistic killer. In September this year, Netflix released their own mini-series, titled Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, directed by Ian Brennan.

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Netizens react to Katy Perry’s Dark Horse lyrics

Internet users were left divided over the song's lyrics, which light-heartedly referred to the serial killer. Some noted that the lyrics were distasteful and disrespected the victims and their families.

A few tweets on the same read:

As Katy Perry gained a heap of backlash on Twitter, others noted that people found her lyrics problematic years after the song’s release. Supporters also pointed out that people are attempting to cancel the hit singer after the Netflix documentary released.

Tweets slamming the critics read:

Many netizens referred to singer Kesha in their tweets as well, since the Tik Tok singer also similarly made headlines for a song that referred to Dahmer. In her 2010 track Cannibal, Kesha croons about devouring boys for a meal. The lyrics read:

“Be too sweet, and you’ll be a goner’ (Yeah) I’ll pull a Jeffrey Dahmer”

At the time of writing this article, neither Katy Perry nor Kesha have responded to the backlash that their songs are receiving.

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Netflix's Jeffrey Dahmer series receives backlash

The true-crime drama series was released earlier this month and has been subjected to criticism, in relation to the lack of representation from the victims’ families.

Although the show claimed to give “Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims a voice,” family members of one of the victims came out recently and spoke against the Netflix production, stating they were not consulted about the victim’s story coming to light. They also noted that the show was unnecessarily "digging up past trauma for the sake of entertainment."

Rita Isbell, the cousin of one of the victims, who was also represented in the series, came forward with an exclusive statement to Insider, announcing that she “was never contacted about the show”, adding:

“I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it.”

Isbell also noted that the Netflix series will go on to make surplus money, however, the same will not be distributed to the victims’ families.