Luke Bryan has his co-judge’s back.
The country crooner told Fox News Monday that “American Idol” fans have inappropriately “picked on” Katy Perry throughout the season — and she doesn’t deserve the hate.
“Katy gets picked on for going out and trying to have fun making a TV show,” Bryan, 46, said at the Country Music Association Fest.
“You can’t be so safe in the moment that you’re so homogenized, you can’t ever go for a joke or go for a fun moment.”
Perry, 38, was criticized throughout Season 21 for comments she made that some perceived as “bullying,” including telling a contestant who is a mom of three, “You’ve been laying on the table too much.”
Many dubbed the comment “mom-shaming,” and the “Idol” hopeful, named Sara Beth Liebe, later admitted that the “Hot N Cold” singer’s remark was “hurtful.”
“It was embarrassing to have that on TV,” Liebe said on TikTok before subsequently quitting the singing competition show.
Later in the season, Perry got booed for criticizing contestant Nutsa Buzaladze’s outfit.
“Nutsa, every time you take the stage it’s like you glitter bomb the stage,” the “Dark Horse” singer told the aspiring pop star. “Listen, one thing that I would like to see from you is not one piece of glitter the next time. I know that is going to be hard.”
Bryan also told Fox News, however, that the judges don’t expect to win over every viewer because their role on the show is to critique “kids that people at home fall in love with.”
“I think we get set up, as judges, you know, we kinda fall on the sword a lot of times,” he explained. “And get set up to where people can get very vocal on socials and stuff.”
Bryan said at the end of the day, he and his fellow judges only do “the best” they can, and Perry has a thick skin since she’s been dealing with criticism her “whole career.”
“It makes me appreciate her even more, just how big of a scale she’s had to deal with that her whole career,” he said.
Pvnew exclusively learned in May that Perry “isn’t fazed” by the backlash she received this season.
“This has been a roller-coaster season with a lot of great talent, so she is just doing her job,” a source said, adding that the “Roar” singer “has a unique sense of humor that may not always translate well on camera, but she never has any ill intent.”
Perry, Bryan and Lionel Richie have been judges on the hit series since its revival on ABC in 2018.
