Katy Perry has long been a vocal proponent of LGBT rights, but she’s also been criticized for a lack of sensitivity and understanding on issues affecting the community.
Early songs such as "I Kissed a Girl" and "Ur So Gay" have been slammed for, respectively, fetishizing and denigrating homosexuality, and this week finds Katy under fire for allegedly turning her back on a segment of the population she claims to support.
This morning, Perry released a new single entitled "Bon Appetit."
The track is a collaboration with the hip hop trio Migos – and for many of Katy’s fans, therein lies the problem.
The complaints stem from the fact that the members of Migos have an ugly history of openly making homophobic comments.
The most recent incident occurred back in January when Atlanta rapper iLoveMakonnen came out as gay, and Migos’ Quavo remarked, "This world is not right."
Needless to say, the group’s beliefs don’t exactly align with Katy’s passion for social justice.
Many fans have expressed shock, as Katy has been very outspoken in her left-leaning political beliefs over the years.
During the 2016 election, Perry criticized Donald Trump and vocally supported Hillary Clinton, in large part, she says due to the the candidates’ stance on key social issues.
So it’s understandable that many fans feel betrayed seeing Katy team up with a group that’s openly and recently expressed homophobic views.
For their part, Migos claim they’re not homophobic, but many are unconvinced and have accused the group of playing the "I have a gay friend" card.
In a response to questions about his Makonnen comments, Quavo argued that he was simply trying to express that the rapper’s homosexuality might undermine his street cred.
He added that his collaboration with bisexual singer Frank Ocean proves that he’s not homophobic:
“When [Makonnen’s] music came out I thought it was hard, so if he would’ve come out the same way… I got a record with Frank Ocean [‘Slide’]. That closes my case," Quavo told Billboard magazine.
He added:
“If you real from the heart, you real from the heart. That ain’t got nothing to do with no sex or gender. It’s 2017, and we all living.”
It’s good that Quavo came around the issue – but his half-hearted defense is unlikely to mollify outraged fans of Katy Perry.