Katy Perry left singing competition series American Idol after season 22 in 2024 as she had been with the show since it was first revived by ABC in 2018. Six seasons was enough for the artist, who was replaced by former winner Carrie Underwood in the latest season. When news of her exit first came, Perry shared she left the show to have more time for her music and other projects. Though it sounds like she's regretting even joining the competition series in the first place.
RadarOnline.com reports that Perry has been feeling like she's getting a lot of backlash and criticism, and it's all because of American Idol whose producers "painted her as the show's villain," according to a source who spoke with the outlet. Here's what was shared with Radar Online:
"Katy is at the end of her rope. She's faced a backlash that’s unprecedented for an artist who didn't do anything criminal. And she’s convinced it all started with American Idol. Katy thought she was elevating her career as a judge on Idol, but now she says it left her overexposed and made her a punchline. Katy wishes she'd never done the show."
Katy Perry's venture back into music hasn't been easy
Even though she has been able to make a comeback to music, after being on and off during Idol, it's looking like ticket sales for her latest tour and album are not performing well. She's currently on the Lifetimes Tour for her latest record, 143. According to the Economic Times, her concerts have not been sell outs overall, with lower turn outs. Her recent Blue Origin space flight also hasn't helped matters if you just take a look on social media.
Since this information is from an unnamed source, we don't know if Perry really does feel this way and if it's true. She could be blaming American Idol, and she might not be. Either way, things are looking a bit down for the artist, though hopefully it gets back up. She's produced numerous hit records including "Hot n Cold," "Teenage Dream," "Firework," and more.
She's talented and fun, though perhaps sometimes on American Idol she could have been seen to be overcritical. Again, whether she was just doing her job or the producers encouraged her to be more tough, we're not sure. Either way, she's not on the singing competition series on ABC any longer and if these reports about her negative experience are true, she probably won't be coming back.
With Underwood replacing Perry this year, it's also unknown whether the American Idol season 4 winner wants to come back as well. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, her fellow judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie seemed very excited to come back if given the chance for the already renewed season 24, while Underwood's answer was more general and it didn't seem like she was super eager about it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
American Idol season 24 is expected to return in early 2026 on ABC.