"I understand that it started a lot of conversations" — Katy Perry addresses controversial Dr Luke collaboration for her song Woman's World

Katy Perry addressed the controversy surrounding her collaboration with Lukasz Gottwald, aka Dr. Luke, on Woman's World, from her latest album 143. The song, released with a music video on July 11, faced outrage after the news broke that Dr. Luke was involved in its writing and production in light of his previous lawsuit with Kesha, who sued him for sexual assault in October 2014.

Dr. Luke denied the allegations and countersued the Tik Tok singer for defamation. The back-and-forth suit continued for 9 years till the two settled it out of court in 2023.

On September 3, Katy Perry appeared on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast, explaining her reasoning behind working with Dr. Luke on her new female anthem.

“I understand that it started a lot of conversations and he [Dr. Luke] was one of many collaborators that I collaborated with. But the reality is, it comes from me. The truth is, I wrote these songs from my experience of my whole life going through this metamorphosis, and he was one of the people to help facilitate all that. One of the writers, one of the producers." she said.

She added that Woman's World was written from a place of female empowerment that she gained when she became a mother, after her daughter was born in 2020. She continued that she had wanted to collaborate with people she had previously worked with, including Dr. Luke.

"I’m still a matriarch and feeling really grounded in that, that’s where I’m speaking from. So I created all of this with several different collaborators, people that I’ve collaborated with from the past, from ‘Teenage Dream’ era. All of that,” Katy Perry continued.

Dr. Luke and Perry have worked on eight Billboard No. 1 tracks. He also received two Grammy nominations for his work on Perry's third studio album Teenage Dream and 2013 track Roar.

---

Katy Perry was named in the lawsuit involving Kesha and Dr. Luke

Katy Perry, who has worked with Dr. Luke for over a decade, was also one of the people named in the lawsuit involving Kesha and Dr. Luke. In October 2014, Kesha sued Dr. Luke for "sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally" abusing her over their 10 years of collaboration.

That same day, Dr. Luke filed a countersuit, alleging the singer was trying to defame him by fabricating tales to break their contract. As a part of his countersuit, his team brought to light a text chain between Kesha and Lady Gaga in which the former claimed Dr. Luke r*ped Katy Perry.

However, Perry denied these claims in a July 2017 deposition under oath, adding Dr. Luke never roofied her and the pair did not engage in a romantic or se*ual relationship.

The case dragged on for nearly a decade and was finally settled out of court on June 22, 2023, with both parties releasing a joint statement a month before the case was scheduled for trial.

“I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter in my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved,” Kesha said.

---

Katy Perry's seventh studio album 143 is slated for release on September 20, 2024. Perry dubbed the 11-track LP, a "dance party" album, and this will be the singer's first studio album in four years, following her 2020 album Smile.