KATY Perry has been called out for her seemingly rude behavior toward her fellow American Idol judge Lionel Richie.
The singer, 38, was accused of “leaving Lionel out” and “talking over him” during Tuesday’s episode of the ABC singing competition.
ABCKaty Perry has been called out for rude behavior toward American Idol judge Lionel Ritchie[/caption]
ABCCritics claimed she was talking over Lionel and ‘leaving him out’[/caption]
Katy appeared to speak over Lionel as they chatted to Idol contestants Elijah McCormick and Lucy Love before the singers’ duet of My Girl.
Lucy explained that their duo name was Dunamis, which is the Greek word for “powerful.”
Lionel, 73, pumped his fist and exclaimed, “Ah! I like that-” before being interrupted by Katie saying, “Woah okay!”
She went on: “You better teach! You better teach Greek!”
Lionel looked down at his notes and said quietly: “OK.”
Katy appeared to brush over him again, asking the singers: “Alright guys, well what are you going to share with us?”
Critics aired their frustrations on Reddit, with one asking: “Does anyone else not get annoyed at how they leave out Lionel????
“Idk why, it bothers me so much lol! He is so sweet and they always talk over him.
“And then this episode Katy like never looks at him, she always positions her body towards Luke. Poor Lionel, he reminds me of being the third wheel in a friendship. He takes it like a champ tho, I’ll say that.”
Another added: “What I pick up on are the more frequent little subconscious interactions.
“Literally this entire episode Katy had her chair turned away for example and barely looked at his eyes. And in auditions Katy and Luke are always making jokes or being the louder person.
“He’s quieter by nature so I don’t think he minds. I can’t be the only one who notices this lol!”
A third posted: “Yes I noticed this. Lionel tries to engage with Katy and she always looks toward Luke [Bryan] first.”
“Yes! I feel bad for him,” yet another user admitted.
“He’s always leaning in and trying to engage but Katy and Luke are so tight it’s hard to break through. I love Katy and Luke’s dynamic but I also wish they would try to be less exclusive.”
This isn’t the first time Katy has come under fire over her behavior on the show, leaving some viewers vowing to boycott the competition.
TELLING OFF CONTESTANTS
Katy was slammed on Monday night for scolding two competitors and eliminating a contestant that fans felt deserved to stay.
The judge was harsh on Carina DeAngelo and Nutsa Abuza, who struggled to work together on a duet.
Before they performed, they revealed their challenges to the judges, with Carina confessing they’d faced difficulty working together.
Katy, 38, was immediately interested, digging for more details.
When Carina revealed that Nutsa wanted to get a good night’s sleep the night before the performance rather than staying up all night, the California Girls singer suggested: “Maybe we should just let them sing.”
They sang I Put a Spell on You and it was quickly apparent that the performance did not land with the judges — especially Katy.
Lionel Richie began: “I must admit it was a little,” before he was interrupted by Katy who said: “Underwhelming.”
She then added: “I just think the energy was broken between both of you and so I think you couldn’t give each other the energy you both needed. That you both deserved. I think you’re both better than that performance.”
In the end, Carina was sent packing while Nutsa was afforded an opportunity to continue on to Showstoppers Week.
This elimination, much like Katy’s reaction to the performance, didn’t sit right with some fans.
‘MOM-SHAMING’ CLAIMS
Katy has also been accused of “mom-shaming” a contestant with her “hurtful” and “embarrassing” comments.
On a recent episode of Idol, contestant Sara Beth Liebe auditioned and the judges could not believe she was 25.
“You look 16,” Luke Bryan said.
“I have three kids, so that’s like-,” Sara Beth started to say.
Katy got up out of her seat and turned around, placing her hands on the table by Luke and fanning herself.
“Are you OK, Katy?” he asked.
“Nope,” the 38-year-old shook her head before returning to her seat and saying: “Honey, you’ve been laying on the table too much.
Luke laughed and the contestant seemed unbothered by the comment at the time but later spoke up about it on her TikTok page.
“At the start of my audition before I sang, I mentioned that I had three children. That I was a young mom,” she said.
“And Katy Perry ‘made a joke,’” Sara Beth continued, putting the last three words in quotes, “that wasn’t super kind.”
“I don’t really have too much to say on my feelings about it because I feel like it’s probably pretty self-explanatory.”
She continued: “I mean it was embarrassing to have that on TV and it was hurtful and you know, that’s that.”
“But, I did want to take this opportunity to just say that women supporting and uplifting other women is so cool and I think that mom-shaming is super lame.”
Katy is a mom to two-year-old Daisy Dove with her partner, Orlando Bloom.
ABCShe interrupted him several times during Tuesday’s episode[/caption]
ABCFans claimed she was favoring her other judge, Luke Bryan[/caption]
