An American Idol hopeful has accused Katy Perry of ‘mum-shaming’ during her audition for the show, which aired earlier this month.
The contestant, Sarah Beth Liebe, has addressed Perry’s comments in a TikTok video that’s since gone viral.
During the audition, the Idol judges commented on how young the 25-year-old Liebe looked. Perry and Luke Bryan guessed that she looked 16.
Liebe took the comments in stride, and revealed that she actually had three children.
Perry looked shocked, and dramatically rose from her seat to run over to Bryan.
“If Katy lays on the table, I think I’m going to pass out,” Liebe said with a smile.
“Honey, you’ve been laying on the table too much,” Perry retorted, as Bryan laughed.
Neither Perry nor American Idol have responded to the video.
Liebe explained her reaction to the Firework singer’s comments after her appearance aired. She described Perry’s remarks as “embarrassing” and “hurtful” in her video.
“At the start of my audition before I sang, I mentioned that I had three children and was a young mother, and Katy Perry made a joke that wasn’t super kind,” Liebe said, using air quotations around the word “joke.”
Liebe said she didn’t “have too much to say on my feelings about it because I feel like it’s probably pretty self-explanatory.”
“I mean, it was embarrassing to have that on TV. And it was hurtful and, you know, that’s that,” she continued. “But I did want to take this opportunity to just say that I think that women supporting and uplifting other women is so cool, and I think that mom-shaming is super lame.”
Liebe added that it’s “hard enough to be a mom and it’s hard enough to be a woman,” and said she appreciated the mothers who have stuck up for her since Perry’s comments aired.
“I just wanted to say that I see you and I hear you and I am grateful for you and you’re worthy,” she said. “And keep loving your babies.”
Perry and her husband, Orlando Bloom, are parents to a 2-year-old daughter, Daisy Dove.
“We are floating with love and wonder from the safe and healthy arrival of our daughter,” the couple said in a statement at the time, alongside a black and white photo of them holding Daisy’s hand.