Katy Perry may have been joking when she said she "hadn't shaved her head yet" in reference
to Britney Spears' 2007 breakdown, but those close to her have started to worry that she
may not be far off from her own meltdown.
From shearing off her infamous locks to enduring yet another heartbreaking romantic split to
her even more outrageous ensembles of late, Katy Perry's recent behaviors have had people
worrying about her, and here's why.
Split personalities
Perry recently revealed that she has a hard time reconciling the stage persona of "Katy
Perry" with the real woman that is "Katheryn Hudson."
"I built up this Katy Perry thing that everybody knows"
"It's fantastic.
But it's more of a facade."
In the revealing chat, she explained that part of the reason she decided to shear off
her hair was that she wanted to find a way to get back to her old self.
"I so badly want to be Kathryn Hudson that I don't even want to look like Katy Perry
anymore sometimes."
Such a drastic style switcheroo can be healing, but in Katy's case, it seems like she's struggling
to figure out who she is when she's not on the stage.
Part of the reason for her persona plight goes way back to the days before she was an
international starlet.
Tough childhood
As part of her revelatory discussion, Katy Perry revealed she didn't even know how to
play with her own nieces because she never got to genuinely play as a child.
That may be related to her parents' rigid upbringing, but also to her own professional
ambitions.
She explained,
"I started singing when I was 9, and then I started realizing 11, 12, 13, I started
going to Nashville to become more professional, you know?
To learn how to write a song … I started turning pro at 11."
Not to mention, Perry's parents are Evangelical Christian ministers, and she's admitted to
struggling with gaining their acceptance as a pop star and even just as a person.
"Well, my parents are great and I love them so much."
"They don't agree with some of the things I do and they do wish that I could do other
things."
In fact, Perry's father, Keith Hudson, once reportedly said during a sermon on his church
tour that Perry was a "devil child" and added, "They ask how can I preach if I produce a
girl who sang about kissing another girl.
I was at a concert of Katy's where there were 20,000.
I'm watching this generation and they were going at it.
It almost looked like church.
I stood there and wept and kept on weeping and weeping.
They're loving and worshipping the wrong thing."
Perry told Vogue in April 2017 that growing up, she "[was not] allowed to interact with
gay people, and there is some generational racism."
The Hudsons have also made anti-Semitic comments publicly, but Perry has learned to distance
herself from such remarks.
"I just have to say you are your own person.
I am my own person."
Even so, she's had some growing up to do when it comes to her understanding of others' perspectives.
She admitted online that she was a home-schooled Evangelical and that her schools were "makeshift"
and sheltered her from most of the secular world.
As a result, being called out for cultural appropriation for some of her music video
style choices came as a rude awakening.
"She told me about the power in black women's hair and how beautiful it is and about the
struggle, and I listened."
Unfortunately those hard lessons weren't the last she'd have to learn along the way of
her reawakening.
A critical miss
Perry received a slew of criticism for her awkward dance moves on Saturday Night Live,
but her GIF-ability is the least of her worries.
For the release of her newest album, Witness, she was unwittingly pitted against her long-standing
career rival Taylor Swift, who just so happened to have dropped her back catalogue on Spotify
the day before.
Although Perry swore her single "Swish Swish" wasn't aimed to answer Swift's "Bad Blood"
"No, it's not about anyone in particular and I've said that on the record."
… The lyrics say otherwise, and that unexpected competition from an old feud has certainly
put a damper on her streaming successes, just as the album's overall sales fall significantly
behind her 2013 release, Prism.
Matters of the heart
Perry admitted that she's single and would love to have a companion, and what's more
is that she has a specific list of attributes in mind for Mr. Right:
She explained to The Therapist,
"First and foremost, my love language is music, so I love music, and I love speaking through
music."
"Second is a sense of humor because life is a little bit too much unless you laugh."
"Third, I would like someone to be intelligent so I can learn."
"Fourth is spiritual: I want someone that really knows that there's something more than
them."
"Lastly, I like someone that's powerful.
I like someone who puts all that power into play."
As she herself admitted, that's a tall order, and despite many high-profile relationships,
she's been left empty-handed each and every time.
In fact, Perry's breakup with Orlando Bloom in February 2017 may have really hurt her.
An insider dished to Radar Online that Bloom and Perry were almost ready to walk down the
aisle when they split, saying,
"They were so into each other for almost a year and they even thought that they would
get married.
They had talked about marriage.
It is just really sad."
The thing is, though, he might not be the one she's really sad about right now.
Perry previously told Marie Claire that she and fellow singer John Mayer had to take a
break so she could process her divorce and improve her own self-esteem, and it sounds
like she may want to reconcile with him.
She admitted that of her last three relationships, Mayer was the best lover.
"Diplo ?"
"Yes."
"And then…
Mayer then Bloom?
Bloom then Mayer"
"OH!!
There it is!"
For what it's worth, Mayer seems to share the same residual affection for her as well.
He admitted to The New York Times that much of his new album, The Search For Everything,
most notably his single "Still Feel Like Your Man," is inspired by Perry.
Until those two figure out where they stand once and for all, they're both clearly suffering
from the breakup blues.
Serious struggles
Perry also admitted to struggling with alcohol abuse, which gives songs like "Last Friday
Night" a much darker tone than originally intended.
"It's not just been a one time that I felt really low.
And I have my own addictions that I struggle with…"
Although she was quick to clarify in her talk with The Therapist that she was referring
to a few drinks too many and that she's since turned to other avenues for escape, she's
also confessed to having suicidal thoughts.
She explained that her song, "By The Grace Of God," was about her struggle with suicidal
thoughts, saying,
"I sang it on tour but it's hard because I feel ashamed.
I feel ashamed that I would have those thoughts, that I'd feel that low and that depressed
… I get to live this wonderful life and I work very hard at it and I've been given
this gift, but I know that God has his hand on me … and it brings me through it."
Maybe this apple's not falling as far from her religious family tree as she might've
wanted to after all.
Thanks for watching!
Click the Nicki Swift icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!