Is Katy Perry the Least Popular Female Pop Icon Today? Here’s the Why’s and Hows!

Once pop’s brightest star, Katy Perry now battles plummeting popularity, scathing celebrity criticism, and a lukewarm album launch — just as she kicks off her global comeback tour.

April 27, 2025: Katy Perry’s career appears to be spiraling — and her latest stunt may have made it worse.

Earlier this month, Perry made headlines for stepping out of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space capsule, kissing the ground, and celebrating her brief 11-minute flight. Instead of applause, the 40-year-old singer faced an avalanche of backlash — from fellow celebrities and the public alike — branding the journey “cringeworthy,” “gluttonous,” and “tone-deaf.”

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Podcast host Joe Rogan mocked her spiritual tone, calling her “a guru now,” while actresses Olivia Munn, Emily Ratajkowski, Olivia Wilde, and Jessica Chastain piled on with biting social media posts. Even NPR critics noted the symbolic defeat the space stunt posed for feminism.

Amid this uproar, musician Trace Cyrus accused Perry of desperately copying his sister Miley’s career moves, further fueling ridicule online.

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An ill-timed controversy

The timing couldn’t be worse. Perry is launching her first global tour in eight years — The Lifetimes Tour — with her new album 143 already sinking without a trace. Released last fall, 143 debuted at a modest No. 6 on the Billboard 200 but slipped off the charts within a month, a far cry from Perry’s chart-topping reign in the 2010s.

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Critics especially hammered the album’s lead single “Woman’s World,” dismissing it as shallow feminism and slamming her collaboration with controversial producer Dr. Luke.

Meanwhile, conspiracy theories about Perry’s downfall continue to swirl — from a supposed “curse” by a nun during a real-estate feud to a recent lawsuit involving a disabled veteran’s property sale, though Perry and partner Orlando Bloom ultimately prevailed.

Trying to reclaim the narrative

Despite the hits, Perry remains defiant. During her Mexico City concert this week, she addressed the haters directly, soaring above the crowd in a silver bodysuit and asking: “Has anyone ever called your dreams crazy?”

Sources close to Perry say she’s focusing on family — bringing Orlando Bloom and their daughter Daisy along for the entire tour — and leaning into resilience, something she’s known for since her painful 2011 divorce from Russell Brand via a text message just before a concert.

Still, industry insiders warn that Perry’s brand — once riding high with hits like “Firework” and “Teenage Dream” — may now be seen as more cartoonish than credible.

“She’s not considered cutting-edge anymore,” one veteran music executive told The Post. “Artists like Billie Eilish command serious respect. Katy Perry feels stuck as a pop confection from another era.”

A battle to stay relevant

Perry’s once-dominant cultural influence now faces the brutal reality of aging in the youth-obsessed music world. Whether The Lifetimes Tour can revive her image remains to be seen.

But if history has shown anything, it’s that Katy Perry doesn’t go down without a fight.

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Katy Perry, Blue Origin flight, Katy Perry 143 album, Katy Perry backlash, Katy Perry tour, pop culture news, celebrity controversies, Russell Brand Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, music industry trends