What’s up y’all, it’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News, and in one of her
most candid interviews, Katy Perry is opening up about mental health as she recalls having
many dark thoughts following her first split with Orlando Bloom.
We love Katy Perry for many things, but mostly for being so open and honest with her fans
about her personal struggles.
Exhibit A: We’ve witnessed first-hand the devastating effects that her divorce with
ex-husband Russell Brand had on her, all thanks to her 2012 documentary, Katy Perry: Part
of Me.
Thankfully Katy has found success in love once again and is even welcoming a baby into
the world later this year with fiance Orlando Bloom, but in a new interview with Canadian
radio show “Q on CBC,” she opened up about the first time she and Orlando split back
in 2017, and the major effects it had on her mental health.
I’m about to get into all the details, but I just wanted to issue a trigger warning,
as we are going to be talking about heavier topics like suicide and depression, so please
only continue watching if you feel comfortable doing so.
Ok, so just weeks away from giving birth to her baby girl, Katy took some time to reflect
on her past and her relationship with Orlando, and how they worked hard at getting back together
following their split in 2017 after a year of dating.
At the time, nothing bad seemed to have caused the split after rumors began spreading, which
led Katy to share some thoughts with her fans.
In a tweet to fans, she wrote, “HOW BOUT A NEW WAY OF THINKING FOR 2017?!
U can still be friends & love ur former partners!
No one's a victim or a villain, get a life y'all!”
Katy and Orlando reconciled a year later in 2018 and have been going strong ever since.
But during her interview with Q on CBC, Katy revealed that she had hit a personal and professional
low when she and Orlando first broke up, all while experiencing poor album sales from her
Witness era.
She said QUOTE, “My career was on this trajectory when it was going up, up and up and then I
had the smallest shift, not that huge from an outside perspective.
But for me it was seismic.”
Katy added, “I had broken up with my boyfriend, who is now my baby-daddy-to-be, and then I
was excited about flying high off the next record and the record didn't get me high anymore...
The validation didn't get me high, and so I just crashed.”
She even admitted to completely losing her smile, adding “I don't know if my smile
was ever fully, like, authentically mine but I was riding on the high of a smile for a
long time.
Which was the validation, love and admiration from the outside world, and then that shifted.”
Things got even heavier when Katy admitted to having suicidal thoughts, but credits the
practice of gratitude with saving her life.
She said, “If I didn't find that I would have wallowed in my own sadness and probably
just jumped but I found the ways to be grateful.”
But Katy revealed that this entire experience was all “necessary brokenness,” saying,
“It was so important for me to be broken so that I could find my wholeness in a whole
different way.
And be more dimensional than just living my life like a thirsty pop star all the time.”
Speaking of being a popstar, Katy previously live-streamed a therapy session back in 2017
on YouTube as part of Vice’s “The Therapist” series, where she admitted, “I’m really
strong as Katy Perry, and sometimes I’m not as strong as Katheryn Hudson,” which
as many fans know is Katy’s birth name.
Suffering from depression in the past actually led Katy to write her experience with depression
in her 2015 emotional track “By The Grace of God,”
Now that she’s in a much healthier place, Katy revealed that she’s actively pursuing
a relationship with God and believes in something much bigger than her.
We’re thrilled to hear that Katy has been taking the necessary steps to gain confidence,
a sense of self and that genuine smile back that we all know and love.
But while we’re on the subject of smiling, it was rumored just yesterday that one of
Katy’s next songs will be titled, “Smile (I’m Thankful)” and will feature Diddy,
as fans noticed that it was registered on BMI so prepare yourselves for a whole lot
more Katy to come!
On a more serious note, if you or someone you know is struggling with depression or
has had thoughts of harming themselves, you can call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
in the US at (1-800-273-8255) which provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people
in distress.
To watch more on celebs opening up about mental health, you can click right over here to watch
another Clevver video.
Then be sure to let me know all your thoughts on Katy’s interview right down here in the
comments, and feel free to give her some love while you’re at it.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, see you next time.