When Katy Perry released her latest album 143, she faced criticism from fans who were dismayed that she’d reunited with producer Dr. Luke for the project — but now it appears she wasn’t entirely to blame for that.
The issue was that, while Dr. Luke co-wrote and produced many of Katy’s biggest hits in the past, he’d also been accused of sexually and emotionally abusing Kesha, leading to lawsuits, countersuits and a prolonged legal battle. But now, it appears that perhaps Katy shouldn’t have taken the blame for that.
In an interview with The Manager’s Playbook, Chris Anokute, the A&R executive who’s worked with Katy for years, including on 143, acknowledged, “This past record we put out wasn’t a commercial success,” but then said, “I think there was some backlash for her reuniting with Dr. Luke which was my desire, and my recommendation for her to go back in the studio with Luke, ’cause Luke is a dear friend.”
“And all the stuff he was accused of is actually not true, so I just thought it was a good idea to reunite them after 10 years of working together and every single he’s ever done for her was #1,” Anokute explained. “And the press just didn’t react favorably and they basically just tried to assassinate him and her.”
Last year, Katy was asked on the Call Her Daddy podcast why she chose to work with Dr. Luke. She said, “I understand that it started a lot of conversations, and he was one of many collaborators that I collaborated with. But the reality is, it comes from me.”
She added, “The truth is, I wrote these songs from my experience of my whole life … and he was one of the people to help facilitate all that.”
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