Pop singer Katy Perry wore a Geisha costume when she came out on stage last night during her performance at the American Music Awards.
In case you don’t know, Geishas are Japanese female entertainers, who act as hostesses and perform different cultural arts such as singing, dancing, and Japanese games.
Whether intentional or not, Katy Perry’s performance is creating a wave of controversy and some are even accusing her of racism.
Showing off her strong vocals, Perry engaged the crowd with the stunning visuals performing her newly released hit single “Unconditionally”, from her album Roar .
The song, as Katy Perry has explained, speaks of general love, not necessarily romantic love and how the feeling is usually unconditional for the object of one’s affections, be it a boyfriend, friend, husband, wife, sister or other.
However, departing from the good delivery of the song, which included no back up help as far as we could tell, the storm of controversy due to her poor choice in props has brought her name to the forefront in a less-than-positive light.
Reaction on social media has been mixed. Of course, Katy Perry is a very popular artist and with her new album has been in the news as of late, but there are those who found her choice of wardrobe offensive.
Here is a sample of tweets we found related to this topic:
This is downright SAD. @katyperry ‘s #AMA2013 performance was beautiful. Let’s not create controversy, shall we? http://t.co/nBrJVEo6PN
— MADELINE (@madelinefuhrman) November 25, 2013
She wants to skin Japanese people and wear them like Versace. Ok. | Katy Perry’s AMA performance deemed racist http://t.co/Uqsc4JsLlV
— Imani ABL (@AngryBlackLady) November 25, 2013
Katy Perry needs a lesson about racial appropriation & how it’s definitely, totally 100% wrong. #fem2 http://t.co/Hois1CvouM via @Salon
— Jaclyn Munson (@OnwardnFword) November 25, 2013
I can’t… RT @Colorlines : Katy Perry Performs in Racist Geisha Costume at the AMA’s http://t.co/s0dGplMsGH
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) November 25, 2013
#shevotes #AMA Katy Perry indulges in hoary old stereotypes about the “submissiveness” of “geishas” for her AMA… http://t.co/9Mo8rcRrlN
— MOMocrats (@MOMocrats) November 25, 2013
At the time this article was written, there had been no public comment on Katy Perry’s part about the controversy she created picking the Geisha themes for her song.
Backstage at the #AMAs with @katyperry pic.twitter.com/86GbKHTKRa
— AMAs (@TheAMAs) November 25, 2013
On Sunday she tweeted before the show, which she opened with “Unconditionally”:
A clue to the theme of my AMA performance this evening! I will be OPENING the show & taking you on a trip!!! pic.twitter.com/axoV5COKZV
— Katy Perry (@katyperry) November 24, 2013
On Monday, Katy Perry’s Twitter timeline only has an unrelated holiday post:
Ho Ho Ho! The holidays are upon us! Watch this #KillerQueen ask Santa what she wants for Christmas! http://t.co/MlzcfFsCF5 What do YOU want?
— Katy Perry (@katyperry) November 25, 2013
Do you think Katy Perry deserves to be accused of racism for choosing a Geisha theme to perform her song at the AMAs?
