How Katy faces criticism

Perry doesn’t need to live in a house outfitted with 41 Big Brother-style cameras to be aware that she is under constant surveillance. She has a well-known strategy for frustrating the paparazzi (wearing the same Adidas track suit when she leaves home to make the photographs less sellable), but that can’t stop the kind of gawking that accompanies daily life when you’re trading punches with another wildly famous blond pop star or dating a famous actor who enjoys nude paddleboarding. When she took up a vocal position as a Clinton supporter, she became a target of the alt-right. As she started revving up for Witness, though, it felt like some on the left were also taking their knives out. Through the years Perry has absorbed criticism for cultural appropriation, for being too sexy on Sesame Street, for dating John Mayer. But in the past few months, the somewhat erratic nature of her album rollout (a long string of ideas that didn’t quite land, like serving her head on a platter as part of an “art installation” at the Whitney Museum of American Art) dripped blood in the water. And the sharks started circling. Reacting to a steady stream of criticism, she said, “They want you to stand for something, but once you do, and if you don’t do it perfectly, they’re ready to take you right down.”

When she needs to speak with somebody who can relate, Perry said, she turns to Sia, a songwriter and artist who has gone to great lengths to control how much (or in her case, how little) the public sees of her inner life. “I think she’s presently challenging old held beliefs about herself and that even in this day and age, cutting all your hair off and having an opinion is NOT WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT,” Sia wrote in an email message. “They would prefer you to make cute pop and to stay in your lane.” She added: “I hide behind my wig, while she is out there taking bullets for the rest of us ... The less brave ... you know?”