Katy Perry gets an education

Discusses times of cultural appropriation

In the lead-up to her new album Witness, Katy Perry spent the weekend livestreaming every hour of her day, which included doing everything from seeing a therapist to discussing feminism with her very famous friends to invoking Taylor Swift more than a few times.

At one point, she also chatted with Black Lives Matter activist Deray McKesson for his podcast Pod Save The People, finally discussing her instances of cultural appropriation (including wearing cornrows in her video for This Is How We Do, and dressing like a geisha for her 2013 American Music Awards performance).

“I listened and I heard and I didn’t know,” she said, explaining how discussions with her friends, helped her understand. “I won’t ever understand some of those things because of who I am. I will never understand, but I can educate myself and that’s what I’m trying to do along the way.”

“She told me about the power in black women’s hair and how beautiful it is and the struggle,” Perry continued.