Lily Allen Apologizes to Katy Perry for ‘Mean’ Space Flight Comments: ‘It Was My Own Internalized Misogyny’
Lily Allen is rethinking her comments about Katy Perry‘s trip to space. More than a week after she slammed the pop star’s participation in Blue Origin’s first-ever all-women rocket flight as “out of touch,” joining in on a wave of criticism related to the expedition, the “Smile” singer shared an apology on the latest episode of her Miss Me? podcast posted Monday (April 28).
On the show, the musician began by saying, “I would actually like to apologize for being mean about Katy Perry last week.”
“There was actually no need for me to bring her name into it, and it was my own internalized misogyny,” Allen continued to cohost Miquita Oliver. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and it was just completely unnecessary to pile on with her. I disagree with what it was that they did, but she wasn’t the only person that did it. She was possibly the most famous and the one that divides people the most.”
“There was something in me that decided to choose her as the person that should … anyway, I’m just sorry,” she added.
Allen was just one of several public figures who criticized the Blue Origin flight following its 11-minute trip on April 14, during which Perry, Gayle King, Lauren Sanchez and more passengers hurtled approximately 62 miles above Earth to space. While the “Firework” singer has maintained that the trip was an empowering feat for women — “It’s about making space for future women and taking up space and belonging,” Perry told press immediately after touching down — stars such as Olivia Munn, Olivia Wilde, Emily Ratajkowski and more have countered that it was actually a waste of resources.
For Allen’s part, the podcaster had said on the April 17 episode of Miss Me? that there was “absolutely no f–king reason” for the Blue Origin mission. “Do we want to talk about Katy Perry and her mates all going up to space for 12 minutes?” she remarked. “I mean, what the f–king hell is all that about? In all seriousness, what? Why?”
“I just think it’s so out of touch,” Allen continued at the time. “We’re on the brink of recession. People are really f–king struggling to make ends meet and get food on their tables.”
But in hindsight, the “F–k You” singer says she now regrets zeroing in on Perry. “I would have been hurt if it had been me and someone in my industry used me and my name,” she said on Monday’s episode. “I’m sorry, Katy Perry.”
Listen to Allen’s apology below.
Hannah Dailey
Billboard