Sure, Queen’s Brian May says Katy Perry makes him “think of Freddie [Mercury],” but Gossip frontwoman and outspoken LGBT supporter Beth Ditto has been much more critical of Perry, especially of “I Kissed a Girl,” of late. Ditto is promoting her new Rick Rubin-produced record, Music For Men, so that could explain some of the headline-making comments, but she’s made very good points/jabs so far and now the feud is on.
As previously reported, Ditto called Perry’s hit single an “anthem for straight girls who like to turn guys on by making out or faking gay” adding, “I hate Katy Perry! I’m so offended. She’s just riding on the backs of our culture, without having to pay any of the dues and not being actually lesbian or anything at all.”
Then Perry struck back: “I heard that she said something about me,” she said. “I don’t want to get into a slanging war with anybody so I don’t want to say anything bad about her. But I’m not impressed. I’ve learned in the past year that one artist should never insult another artist’s music — it’s tacky.”
Ditto has now reacted by bringing the feud into a broader discussion of gay rights. Here’s what she told Spinner: “To [Katy Perry], it’s just this party song. But as a gay person, it’s like, ‘Oh, of course this straight person singing about kissing a girl goes straight to Top 40 and people buy this record. Who can give a f—- about real gay people?’ That’s what’s really painful about the whole thing. That’s what makes me laugh about ‘I’m not impressed.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, that’s what you think? Of course, because you never thought about what a real gay person feels, and the impact that a song like that has on the gay world in a time of crucial civil rights.’ That’s just one of the examples of what the mainstream is thinking about queer culture, when actually, we are completely fighting for our rights right now.”
There’s more from Ditto here, but you can see where this is headed. So long as Carrie Prejean doesn’t get involved, this could be a fun summer feud. Meanwhile, Perry’s got fashion designers to sue.