Katy Perry’s last few months have been … a struggle, to say the least. Her next album’s lead single, “Woman’s World,” caught flak for its shallow messaging and involvement from Dr. Luke (Kesha’s alleged assaulter). Her follow-up single “Lifetimes” came with a music video that may have wreaked havoc on a protected Spanish island. Now, the album’s third single is here, and with it comes a fresh round of controversy.

Perry premiered the new song, “I’m His, He’s Mine,” during her performance at Wednesday night’s VMAs. She was this year’s winner of the Video Vanguard Award, which is given annually to an artist who’s had a profound impact on music and music videos. To celebrate, she performed a medley of her biggest hits (and snuck in some of her new songs, too).

That included the new single, which features rapper Doechii. Their performance involved locking legs and touching their crotches, culminating in a near-kiss to close the segment. As one viral post put it, Perry and Doechii essentially “scissored each other on stage.”

Of course, there’s nothing bad about a little scissoring, but the context of Perry and Doechii’s dancing rubbed folks the wrong way.

For one thing, their performance seems antithetical to the song’s lyrics. Matching the title “I’m His, He’s Mine,” the whole song is about being possessive of (and possessed by) a man: “I’m his queen, I’m his freak, I’m every woman he wants and needs,” Perry and Doechii sing on the chorus. Why give such an aggressively straight song a seemingly sapphic performance?

Related
The internet rallies behind Chappell Roan’s controversial red carpet clapback
Sabrina Carpenter just added to Donald Trump’s ‘transgender aliens’ saga

Then there’s Perry’s real-life sexuality. Though she’s never explicitly said if she’s straight or otherwise (and is under no obligation to), the fact remains that she’s only ever publicly been with men. At the end of the snippet at the VMAs, the camera cut to Perry’s fiancé Orlando Bloom, which some viewers took to mean that Perry was merely performing queerness for the male gaze — a theory that wasn’t helped by her launching into the controversial hit “I Kissed a Girl” minutes later.

In fairness, Doechii is openly bisexual, so most of the internet’s critique of the performance is being lobbied at Perry, not her. Still, given this specific song’s lyrical content, Doechii’s queerness doesn’t change the tonal dissonance of her and Perry’s onstage antics.

The performance fell especially flat in the context of the VMAs as a whole, with Best New Artist winner Chappell Roan delivering a standout performance of the comp-het anthem “Good Luck, Babe!” while brandishing a flaming crossbow in full plate armor.

Perry’s new album 143 releases in just one week on September 20. See her full VMAs performance for yourself below. (“I’m His, He’s Mine” begins around the 2:15 mark.)

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock our articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated