Katy Perry Addressed Her Cultural Appropriation And Things EscalatedSkip To ContentHomepageSign InSearch BuzzFeedSearch BuzzFeedlol Badge Feedwin Badge Feedtrending Badge FeedCalifornia residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data.Do Not Sell My Personal Information 2022 BuzzFeed, Inc PressRSSPrivacyConsent PreferencesUser TermsAd ChoicesHelpContactSitemapPosted on 13 Jun 2017 Katy Perry Addressed Her Cultural Appropriation And Things Escalated "I will never understand some of those things because of who I am. But I can educate myself, and that's what I'm trying to do along the way." by Ellie WoodwardBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestTwitterMailLink Katy Perry has been called out for cultural appropriation several times over the years Kevin Winter / Getty Images The most notable criticism was levelled at her 2013 AMAs performance in which she dressed as a geisha, as well as her hairstyle in the video for "This Is How We Do." Well Katy has now addressed the criticism during an interview with civil rights activist DeRay McKesson The conversation appeared on her 72-hour livestream and on the latest episode of DeRay s podcast Twitter: @PopCrave Katy began by addressing her hair in the This Is How We Do video She said she hadn t realised the significance of cornrows until discussing with her sylist the history of black hair Capitol Records She said:I've made several mistakes. Even in the "This Is How We Do" video, with how I wore my hair – having a hard conversation with one of my empowered angels, Cleo [Wade, her stylist], about why I can't wear my hair that way, or what is the history behind wearing the hair that way. And she told me about the power in black women's hair and how beautiful it is, and the struggle. And I listened, and I heard and I didn't know. She also addressed the uproar surrounding her geisha performance in 2013 Kevin Winter / Getty Images At the time, many people objected to her costume and makeup as well as the bowing and shuffling in the choreography. One reviewer said the performance represented a "flat, inaccurate, sexualised identity that has nothing to do with Asian cultures. She pandered to a white audience by all but literally skinning Asian women." Katy said her performance was intended as a celebration of Japanese culture Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF CBS She explained:Even in my intention to appreciate Japanese culture, I did wrong with a performance. And I didn't know that I did it wrong until I heard people saying I did it wrong. Katy added that while she may never understand the struggles of other cultures she ll continue to educate herself View this photo on Instagram instagram.com She said:I will never understand some of those things because of who I am. But I can educate myself, and that's what I'm trying to do along the way. She also said she d rather hear compassionate criticism and not clapbacks Katy explained:Sometimes it takes someone to say, out of compassion, out of love: "Hey, this is where the origin is." And not just a clapback. Because it's hard to hear those clapbacks sometimes. Your ego just wants to turn from them. But when the interviewer asked whether she could understand people s negative reactions Katy responded Yes I have lots of white privilege View this photo on Instagram instagram.com Katy also spoke about the backlash against her recent joke about Barack Obama Getty Images During an Instagram live Q&A session with fans, someone told Katy: "I miss your old black hair." Katy responded: "Oh, really? Do you miss Barack Obama as well? Oh, OK. Times change. Bye! See you guys later." Some called the comment "offensive and tasteless," others said it was "racist," while many fans defended her. She explained that she d made the comment after feeling self-conscious about her new hair Katy said:In my attempt to make a joke I made a mistake, and I had said it wrong. Something really triggered me. Someone was coming for my hair again and someone said I'm not pretty enough without my black hair and I snapped. She went on to say that she intends to collaborate with more black artists so she can give them that spotlight Getty Images She said:I don't want to live in a segregated world, especially in music. I've been able to collaborate with Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Juicy J, Migos. How can I collaborate with people and lift them up and give them that spotlight? How can I lift them up in a way that's good? Many people liked the interview and praised Katy for acknowledging her mistakes and for trying to educate herself ㅤ @touchnick Katy Perry acknowledging her mistakes regarding cultural appropriation, this is extremely respectable of her 03:00 AM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite Katheryn Hudson @risethrive The tea is Katy Perry apologized for her cultural appropriation and not a lot of artists have the guts to admit that. WOKE QUEEN 03:18 AM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite Come to mama @PerryAbruz SHOUT OUT TO KATY PERRY FOR SPREAD INFORMATION ABOUT CULTURAL APPROPRIATION LEARNING FROM HER OWN MISTAKES https://t.co/II4VSfc00a 12:18 PM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite Jad @PerrysFreak Katy Perry Admiting she did mistakes, specially regarding cultural appropriation. This such a respectable act. 06:35 AM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite However other people were unhappy with her comments and said she hadn t been apologetic enough Anna Nicold @RoyaltyRaven @touchnick 06:36 AM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite moe (they/them) @moepriester Katy Perry. Sitting down w Deray. To have a discussion on cultural appropriation and "how clapbacks hurt". Laughte… https://t.co/YreqppqofO 03:32 AM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite Some suggested she d only addressed the subject for publicity elaιna @chanqkyunss don't be fooled by katy perry "acknowledging" her cultural appropriation lmfaoo she's only doing it for positive publicity and she's not 11:50 PM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite While others said she should ve educated herself on cultural appropriation earlier Betsey Bell Devoe @Myrtle_Urkel Katy Perry is 32 and Google is free. She knew better but cultural appropriation made her rich. But now it's not working, so she apologize. 10:21 PM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite Her Grand Clarity @JSoAbove Katy Perry is a grown rich woman. If she wanted to be up on social justice & cultural appropriation what's blocking her from seeking it out? 04:33 PM - 12 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite livski! @visitkingdoms ur telling me katy perry, a 32 y/o media-trained woman, was unaware she was doing anything wrong while profiting off cultural appropriation? 03:28 PM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite And some said her comments didn t ring true because she s recently been accused of cultural appropriation thanks to her new hairstyle child of moon & sea @JocelynDonna I can't really buy that Katy Perry learned from her cultural appropriation because shes . still . doing . it. 07:43 PM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite The criticism even extended to the interviewer DeRay McKesson with many people saying he shouldn t have allowed Katy the platform to address cultural appropriation Twitter: @flippedhatnupe ur mad @kodakoffwhite Deray is too intelligent and important to be having cultural appropriation conversations with Katy Perry in 2017 04:52 AM - 11 Jun 2017 Reply Retweet Favorite He stepped in to defend himself urging people to listen to the full interview Twitter: @deray And went on to tweet a thread about it Twitter: @deray So you can listen to the full interview here Share This ArticleFacebook PinterestTwitterMailLink BuzzFeed DailyKeep up with the latest daily buzz with the BuzzFeed Daily newsletter!This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.