There are upsides to being a pop star — money, fame, millions of adoring fans, maybe even free meals at your favorite restaurant. But the plight has always been a severe case of being misunderstood. Some moan about that fact, and some — like Sabrina Carpenter — count on it.

Carpenter is fresh off the success of her two-time Grammy-winning album Short n’ Sweet and spicy tour, and she’s already announced the release date for her project Man’s Best Friend — put a pin in that title. Some fans have expressed surprise that an artist of her caliber is putting out another album so soon, especially after one of the biggest years of her career. But this is nothing new for the “Espresso” star — she’s been an album-a-year artist for almost a decade now. She’s clearly not planning to slow down anytime soon. The work ethic discussion quickly took a back seat once she revealed the album cover, though.

For some fans, however, the cover art of the new album was simply too outrageous for their taste. the title? Man’s Best Friend appears to have two alternate covers — one features a dog on a leash wearing a pendant with the album’s title. The other, presumably the explicit version, shows a man out of frame holding Carpenter by the hair as she kneels.

Maybe this landed too soon after the Sydney Sweeney bathwater soap saga, but the first wave of responses was filled with rage and disappointment. One declared, “This is not feminism, and this is not empowering,” while another expressed regret for having given Carpenter such a large platform, claiming they “made the wrong person famous.”

We made the wrong person famous.

She seems incapable of imagining a different aesthetic, this is all she does.

Even if framed as funny/satire for “shock value,” it’s neither subversive nor empowering. It repackages harmful overused tropes for controversy and profit. https://t.co/mOkTifAdXJ

— desus (@desus_xx) June 11, 2025

But that’s not to say the response was universal — some fans were down with the provocative cover. One even joked that Sabrina is in good company among the class of persecuted Carpenters. Others saw it as a metaphor. And some viewed the backlash itself as puritanical.

my “woke” opinion but everyone’s reaction to this is just more purity bs that was forced onto women hundreds of years ago cause you just cant believe that women are something other than “pure” and “innocent” https://t.co/9wrbrxajvP

— hannah! ᯓ★ (@loqicals) June 11, 2025

maybe this is a bad take but i fear we have "stop doing things for the male gaze"d ourselves back into expecting women to be modest and shaming them otherwise, and it's Strange https://t.co/dFKM8pz5oD

— grace (@savingrace0) June 11, 2025

You know who else was a much-persecuted Carpenter

— Brandon Streussnig (@BrndnStrssng) June 11, 2025

There’s a long history of album covers causing controversy. Pusha T’s Daytona infamously used a photo of Whitney Houston’s hotel bathroom at the height of her drug dependency. Even Beyoncé’s Renaissance cover was considered too revealing for some countries in the Middle East, which prompted a censored version featuring only the horse without Beyoncé atop it. So, these things do happen.

Sabrina Carpenter will be fine. This isn’t the first time she’s faced public criticism. And if her lead single is any indication, she may just be using this new project to address her past relationship with Barry Keoghan — with the themes and art direction potentially alluding to the specifics of their dynamic.

What this latest moment does raise, however, is the question of what we actually want in art. Do we still want work that challenges our notions and expectations? Or have we settled for being placated by versions of what we already know and love? It’s not up to us to tell you how to feel about the cover. Subjectivity in art is expected — encouraged, even.

Man’s Best Friend is scheduled to release on August 29.

Brian Wilson, the legendary co-founder of The Beach Boys who revolutionized pop music, has died at the age of 82, as per an announcement made by his family on social media.

According to Huff Post, the influential musician and producer’s death was confirmed through a statement shared on his official social media s, prompting an outpouring of tributes from celebrities and fans worldwide.

“We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has ed away,” the family’s statement read. “We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world.” A plea made more poignant considering the profound role his late wife, Melinda, played in his life. 

Musicians and celebrities pay tribute to the pop music pioneer

The announcement of Wilson’s ing sparked immediate reactions from prominent figures in the music industry. The electronic music duo Disclosure praised Wilson as their favorite producer and composer of all time, noting how he “pushed the boundaries further than anyone had before.”

Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray’s frontman, expressed his heartbreak over the news, stating that he hoped Wilson’s memory and music would continue to bring joy and comfort to others. Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood also shared his grief, noting the tragic coincidence of losing both Wilson and Sly Stone in the same week.

Actor John Cusack paid his respects by describing Wilson as “an open heart with two legs” and “with an ear that heard the angels,” highlighting the musician’s unique ability to create transcendent music that touched millions of lives.

Sean Ono Lennon shared a personal tribute, revealing how Wilson had significantly influenced his own musical journey. Lennon expressed gratitude for having had the opportunity to meet and spend time with Wilson, whom he described as “our American Mozart.”

British broadcaster Piers Morgan acknowledged Wilson’s legacy by highlighting one of his most celebrated achievements, writing God Only Knows at the age of 23, which Morgan described as “one of the greatest pop songs in history.” The tribute emphasized Wilson’s complex personality while celebrating his status as a musical genius and show business icon.

As news of Wilson’s ing continues to reverberate through the music industry, his impact on popular music and his innovative approach to production and composition remain an indelible part of his legacy. The family has requested privacy during this period of mourning, even as they acknowledge sharing their loss with Wilson’s global fanbase.

Lizzo made her career with songs full of killer hooks and a refreshingly sincere message of body positivity and loving yourself. Her lyrics were peppered with uplifting no-nonsense celebrations of her femininity and sexuality, and her interviews contained killer quotes like:

“FAT DOES NOT=UGLY. Love Yourself. Eat like you love yourself. Drink water like you love yourself. Dance & move your body like you love yourself. Next time someone calls you fat, you’ve got fat in your body just like them. And having fat is beautiful.”

More recently, Lizzo has lost a lot of weight, sharing that she’s lost 16% of her body fat over two years of slimming. Despite ongoing accusations that she’s using Ozempic to achieve this, she maintains her weight loss is the product of exercise and diet (though if it is Ozempic, who cares?).

Lizzo still maintains a body-positive message, albeit one that’s slightly lessened in impact given that she’s gone to such lengths to slim down, combined with allegations in a lawsuit from her former dancers alleging she criticized them for putting on weight.

All of which means this video of Lizzo spraypainting “Bye b***h” over the face shot of her on her 2022 album Special has many fans concluding she’s now “fat-shaming” her old self:

Nobody hates fat people more than former fat people https://t.co/jBHkMFHODA

— Ruby (@ilyyyRuby) June 11, 2025

We need to be graceful

Or, as this put it: “Nobody hates fat people more than former fat people”. Comments inevitably come at this from a wide range of viewpoints: there are legions of bluetick nobodies doing fat jokes, but also more thoughtful observations like:

“We need to be graceful to these kinds of people they’ve experienced bullying their entire lives as fat people it makes sense that it’s mostly how they’d act towards their prior selves too, but they do need some education on how harmful this behaviour is”

And that:

“I’m guessing it’s because people who have to work for results tend to feel more ionately about them. If you then see others not putting that effort in it probably makes you disdainful.”

Other Lizzo fans cast doubt on whether it’s even fair to read this as her fat-shaming her past self. Perhaps dismissing the Special era is just a way to pave the way for her fifth studio album Love in Real Life. As of writing we can’t really tell though, at the very least, Lizzo herself seems happy with where her music and her body is. And maybe that’s the point of all this.

Most people use an awards acceptance speech to deliver pleasant yet dull platitudes, thanking their parents and their agent, and so on. Not Doechii, who triumphed at last night’s BET Awards with a win for Best Female Hip-Hop artist and delivered an acceptance speech for the ages

The BET Awards were held at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater, a short distance from where Trump’s troops have been battling anti-ICE protestors infuriated at government agents snatching their friends, family, and co-workers from their homes, workplaces, and churches. Many at the ceremony were doing their best to pretend none of that was happening. Not Doechii.

While holding her award, she said:

” I do wanna address what’s happening right now outside of the building. There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order. Trump is using military forces to stop a protest, and I want y’all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.”

“Trump is using military forces to stop a protest — I want y'all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.”

— Doechii at the #BETAwards pic.twitter.com/Lx6tkKaEDR

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 10, 2025

There were cheers from the crowd as she continued:

“What type of government is that? People are being swept up and torn from their families, and I feel it’s my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people. “For Black people, for Latino people, for trans people, for the people in Gaza. We all deserve to live in hope and not in fear, and I hope we stand together, my brothers and my sisters, against hate, and we protest against it. Thank you, BET.”

Perfectly said

The response has been extremely positive, praising her for being “on the right side of history”. Top-rated comments say “way to meet the moment! Fantastic speech!”, “She’s fearless and speaks the truth”, “Perfectly said. No notes”, and that she’s “raising the bar” for other performers.

It’s easy to get cynical about this sort of thing. After all, these are highly paid celebrities speaking out to a roomful of wealthy people. But if that’s going to happen anyway, why shouldn’t they speak out about the crimes the government is committing against its people that are taking place on the streets right outside?

Doechii is now squarely within the MAGA Eye of Sauron for this speech and the hate campaign has begun. But, if it’s a choice between shoving your head into the sand and pretending like nothing is happening and speaking out, she made the right call.

Miley Cyrus takes the motto “the show must go on” extremely seriously. On Dec. 31, 2023, she co-hosted Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party alongside her superstar godmother Dolly Parton. It was all smiles and professionalism on stage as she welcomed guests David Byrne, Sia, Paris Hilton, and others on stage to perform.

But, behind the scenes, all was not well. In an appearance on The Zane Lowe Show earlier this week, Cyrus revealed that she’d spent the show suffering an “excruciating” medical emergency. As she explained: “I had a medical emergency. I had an ovarian cyst rupture. We didn’t know exactly what was going on so we did it.”

The pain of an ovarian cyst rupture has been compared to appendicitis, with possibly symptoms including nausea, vomiting, fever, dizziness from blood loss, vision changes and, as Cyrus recounts – extreme abdominal pain: “It was pretty traumatic because it was extremely excruciating and I did the show anyway. But it was really, really hard on me.”

Miley said that during the New Year's Eve show with Dolly Parton, she had a ruptured ovarian cyst and was in a lot of pain, but she still performed anyway! pic.twitter.com/sg1HLITg4n

— MILEY DATA (@datamileycyrus) May 21, 2025

She almost quit

Experiencing that and then being all smiles on stage and performing to millions of people was apparently so traumatic it almost made Cyrus go into early retirement. She said she changed her mind after having dinner with SNL producer Lorne Michaels, who told her “‘Six months. Everybody has six months to feel sorry for themselves and then we start to rebuild” and “You have no idea how many artists have sat in this chair and told me they were quitting music. Everyone does this, everyone has these traumatic experiences.”

Cyrus took Michaels’ advice to heart and took a break, though has performed guest songs on various albums and appeared on two specials to mark the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. But in a few days, on May 30, she’s back with her ninth studio album Something Beautiful, which is centered around the theme of healing. The album will be accompanied by a movie intended as a “visual companion” to the album, being billed as a “one of a kind pop opera”.

Given all this, “healing” seems like a great topic for Cyrus to cover. And, rewatching her performances at that traumatic 2023 special, you wouldn’t ever know she was horrible pain throughout. What a trouper.

Content warning: This article mentions suicide. Please take care while reading.

The underground music community is mourning the sudden and tragic death of Atlanta hyperpop musician wifiskeleton, also known as Jeremiah and *67, at the age of 21.

Multiple sources have reported the news of wifiskeleton’s death, though the exact cause remains unconfirmed. Reportedly, fellow musician Witchbox confirmed wikiskeleton died in a Discord post, writing, “This is serious, pls don’t be disrespectful. @everyone me and a few others were informed this morning skel died, he was found already cold when the cops and medics arrived. This is not a joke, I’m so sorry everyone.” Reportedly, wifiskeleton’s friends Yuke and Moon also confirmed the news.

wifiskeleton dead after tragic final livestream

Further reporting suggests that wifiskeleton’s final Instagram livestream was deeply emotional, with the artist allegedly expressing feelings of hopelessness and despair. Wifiskeleton reportedly mentioned his plans to overdose in the stream, leading some to speculate he died by suicide.

Wifiskeleton’s fandom wiki page now reads, “At 6:35 PM on May 5th 2025 in the gothangelz discord server, it was announced that Wifiskeleton had ed away in the early morning hours because of an alleged overdose. His overdose may have been planned as he said on a Instagram live the night before his body was found ‘I’m going to overdose tonight and kill [myself].'”

Wifiskeleton was an American recording artist, producer, and guitarist known for his emotionally charged music that delved into themes of love, heartbreak, depression, and existential despair.

He was a member of the collective gothangelz and was recognized for his distinctive use of ’90s to early 2010s cartoon imagery, emojis, and Microsoft Paint-style artwork in his visual presentations. His music was primarily released on SoundCloud under various monikers, including “wifiskeleton” and “skeleton archive,” and he maintained a presence on Spotify as well.

One of his most notable works includes the 2024 album suburban daredevil, featuring the track “Nope your too late I already died,” which garnered over 800,000 plays on Spotify.

“ima miss you so much man”

Friends and fans commented on wifiskeleton’s Instragram as news of his death spread. One comment read, “i love you so much i we would call and we’d plot on how youd blow up when you only had a couple thousand monthly. ima miss you so much man coming to you with my problems and you giving me advice changed my perception on life. fuck man my tears are getting on my phone screen i cant believe your actually gone i f—ing love you so much.”

Another added in part, “Skel, I love you so much. We literally just spoke… and now you’re gone. I couldn’t shake the feeling after seeing the note you left… I hoped it didn’t mean what I feared. I when you followed me, back when you only had a couple thousand monthly listeners. Something about you pulled me in immediately.”

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. A list of international crisis resources can be found here.

If you’ve been alive long enough, there comes a time when you have to play the role of telling people no, Santa isn’t real. It’s never fun. There’s nothing to gloat about. You actually kind of wish you still believed the comforting lie. So unfortunately, I have the displeasure of being the one to inform the people that no — Michael Jackson wasn’t such a good dancer that he could defy gravity.

Now, let’s be clear: by a long mile, Michael Jackson is still the best performer the world has ever seen. The only other person who might compare is probably Beyoncé — but even with her, perhaps because of the overfamiliarity that comes with contemporary celebrity, her very presence doesn’t cause fans to faint where they stand. The Hive might be militant, but they’d probably agree that if there’s anyone above her in talent and impact, it’s the King of Pop.

Over the past week, a video went viral revealing exactly how Michael Jackson pulled off his famous forward lean from the Smooth Criminal video. Over his long career, MJ had a knack for creating dance moves that every kid would try at least once with their friends. The moonwalk, especially, was the move every cool kid in class had to know in the 1990s. But the forward lean? Nobody else could do that. And for a very long time, despite all his controversies, people thought MJ was just that good.

Every few years, though, a new generation finds out the secret was actually in the shoes. In fact, given how much competition there was during Jackson’s prime — Prince, James Brown, all these guys could sing and dance — Jackson went ahead and patented it. Like his peers, he was fiercely protective of his intellectual property, which meant only he could use the anti-gravity shoes. And because of that, people genuinely believed he could lean that far forward without falling.

When the video hit X, people were reacting with hilarious disbelief. Some mourned their childhoods. Others felt duped. One even wrote, “We were scammed.”

This just shattered my childhood

— Pictures Studio (@picturessstudio) May 3, 2025

We were scammed by Micheal Jackson

— Dark Amin (@iam_dark_amin) May 2, 2025

A good magician never reveals their tricks. And while learning the details can make you appreciate the craftsmanship, most artists understand that the illusion of the impossible is more enchanting than the skill behind it. Maybe that’s why Jackson never revealed the trick to his fans. But the details of the anti-gravity shoes still exist in full on History by Mail. So, these shoes had a slot in the heel that would engage with a peg that rose from the stage floor at the right moment. Once locked in, the peg anchored the foot, allowing Jackson to lean forward far beyond normal human balance.

But of course, the shoes didn’t do all the work – his upper body strength and core control were still crucial in this difficult move.

Luckily for fans, there’s an Michael Jackson biopic that might go into detail about this and other major milestones in his life. It’s always tempting to dismiss music biopics because they can feel like visual Wikipedia reenactments. But with time, it becomes clear that culture often needs reminders of what made certain people in history so extraordinary.

On X, people have also been debating various genres and disciplines by asking who belongs on a given Mount Rushmore — from wrestling to hip-hop to acting. But for Michael Jackson? He’s probably the one person you could argue deserves a mountain all to himself. And stories like this — a full 16 years after his death — prove exactly why.

Last year saw Chappell Roan come out of seemingly nowhere to dominate the music scene, of course, we know she’s been around for a while before 2024 but last year was seriously her year. Unfortunately, as is all too often the case with outspoken female celebrities, people turn on them, and all of a sudden every little move is scrutinized and over analyzed.

And that is exactly what Chappell is going through right now. It seems a certain group of people are looking for any excuse to prove she’s a terrible person so they can feel justified in canceling her. 

Did Chappell Roan really push a woman? 

Well the Chappell haters found their smoking gun this week as footage appeared to show the “Pink Pony Club” singer apparently pushing another woman out of her way at a red carpet event. Dressed in an extravagant get up that partially covers her face, Chappell can be seen walking past the cameras before apparently being called to by someone in the crowd. She turns around and appears to physically push a woman who was walking behind her out of the way as she walks towards the individual in the crowd.

This is the footage that went viral and has haters calling out the singer. Some have even gone as far as to claim Chappell’s actions here confirm a blind item from earlier this year many believe to have been about her which claimed she was rude and dismissive to Samara Joy.

Another angle reveals all

The first clip certainly appears to show Chappell pushing the woman. Luckily, there was another, closer angle, which shows the reality of the situation. In the new clip it’s very obvious that the singer barely even touches the other person. She simply moves her arm in front and lightly taps her on the arm. It seems the move wasn’t meant to be aggressive.

The footage serves as a reminder that what we see online and in the media can easily be manipulated one way or another to create a certain narrative. Many were quick to condemn Chappell Roan for her actions without having the full context of the situation. If that second angle had never been released then this could have easily been used to paint Chappell as a terrible person. Of course, she could well be a terrible person, but this footage doesn’t really prove anything.

Perhaps it’s time to stop over analyzing every single thing a celebrity does. In the big year of 2025 why can’t we simply ignore famous people we don’t like rather than feeling the need to tear them down? The recent surge in Chappell hate is exhausting, surely people could be finding something better to do with their time?

Katy Perry’s current tour isn’t going so well. The dance moves in particular have been mocked relentlessly online after footage of her performance in Mexico City went viral. However, one woman on TikTok believes she knows the real reason why the choreography and performances seem so bad and it all relates to the Blue Origin space launch.

It’s not easy being Katy Perry at the moment. Last year her album completely tanked, while the lead single “Woman’s World” was torn to shreds for both being a bad song and also being produced by Dr. Luke, who was accused of sexual assault by singer, Kesha. Then of course, this year we saw her blast into space in the Jeff Bezos owned Blue Origin capsule. The move was widely panned for being out of touch and generally bad for the planet. 

Things have only gotten worse as the singer’s performance at a recent live show has been ridiculed online. The show, which was part of the Lifetimes tour, saw Perry doing some pretty janky robotic dance moves. On X one wrote, “katy really needs to fire whoever’s her choreographer omg…” Meanwhile, another asked, “Who agrees that Katy Perry can’t dance ??”

What’s going on with Katy Perry?

Perry’s live performances don’t usually come across this bad so what’s going on? Well one woman on TikTok thinks that the live show was intended to be based around a space/astronaut theme on of the singer having recently flown into space. TikToker @catherinehates claims that “Katy Perry was going to come out in a blue astronaut suit.” However, the negative backlash from the space flight meant some incredibly last minute changes had to be made.

Catherine goes on to say, “they probably had like a whole rocket thing and whatever.” before the decision was made to change the whole thing. However, as Catherine points out, the planning and set design would have been expensive, meaning “they had to leave in the moon hanging in the sky and some of the space-y references.” However, she suggests the quickly changed the theme to robots and lightsabers to cover up what would have been an embarrassing mistake.

Is she onto something?

So is Catherine onto something here? Perry’s performance at the show did seem rather poorly planned out. One person commented, “That makes soooo much sense!” However, others pointed out that footage had been shared of the singer practicing with lightsaber props prior to the space launch. Others simply pointed to other badly choreographed moments throughout her career suggesting that this is nothing new.

The forever iconic Cher is back in the news, having been dragged into her son Elijah Blue Allman’s divorce from his estranged wife Marieangela King. In a dramatic twist, Cher herself appears to be a factor in the divorce, with “an insider” saying that “Frankly, Cher is a large part of [King’s] decision to walk away from this toxicity” and that “She blames Cher for all of his issues.”

On top of that, there’s the bizarre allegation that Cher hired four men to kidnap Elijah from a hotel during his wedding anniversary. So, is Cher really a mother-in-law from hell, how many children does she have, and who are they?

Chaz Bono

Chaz Bono, the son of the iconic pop singer Cher, has undergone an incredible transformation over the last decade. https://t.co/qWvKs8gP6y

— In Touch Weekly (@intouchweekly) April 7, 2025

Chaz Bono, born March 4, 1969, to Cher and Sonny Bono, is Cher’s oldest child. Originally given the deeply unfortunate name Chastity (after a film Cher starred in), he was soon known as Chaz and grew up in the public eye, appearing on his parents’ TV show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

Chaz was immersed in celebrity life, compounded by his parents’ high-profile divorce in 1975. Chaz later became a prominent figure in the LGBTQ+ community, publicly coming out as a lesbian in 1988 and then transitioning as a transgender man in 2008.

His journey, documented in the 2011 film Becoming Chaz and his book Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man, underlined his ion for transgender rights. Chaz has also pursued acting, writing, and activism, serving as a spokesperson for GLAAD and appearing on shows like Dancing with the Stars in 2011, becoming the show’s first openly transgender contestant. He said his mother first struggled with his transition but later became a vocal er of him and the trans community.

Elijah Blue Allman

Newly revealed court documents have accused Cher of employing four men to forcefully remove her son, Elijah Blue Allman, from his New York hotel on the night of his wedding anniversary with his estranged wife.https://t.co/aLDornmwXQ

— Variety (@Variety) September 27, 2023

Elijah Blue Allman, born July 10, 1976, is Cher’s son with musician Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. Elijah’s childhood was marked by his parents’ turbulent marriage, which ended in 1979, and his father’s struggles with addiction.

Raised largely by Cher, Elijah inherited her ion for music, forming the “underscore” band Deadsy in the late 1990s in which he was lead vocalist and guitarist. The band released albums like 2002’s Commencement but never achieved mainstream success.

Elijah’s personal life has been marked by battles with substance abuse and an often strained relationship with Cher at times. In 2013, he married musician Marieangela King, but their marriage faced legal disputes, including a conservatorship attempt by Cher in 2023, citing Elijah’s mental health and addiction issues. That’s tension between Elijah, Marieangela, and Cher is likely at the root of the current drama.

Lil Nas X made a shocking Instagram post from hospital yesterday in which he revealed he’s suffered dramatic facial paralysis. The ‘Old Town Road’ icon recorded the video from his hospital bed, demonstrating that the right side of his face is completely frozen.

Despite this, he sounded upbeat, saying: “When I smile, this is me doing a full smile right now by the way… it’s like, what the f**k">Bell’s palsy

Bell’s palsy is a still-mysterious condition that – as seen in Lil Nas X – results in paralysis of the facial muscles (typically on one side of the face only) due to inflammation, swelling, or compression of the seventh cranial nerve, which governs the facial muscles.

The exact cause is still unknown, but it’s theorized to be linked to viral infections like herpes simplex, immune system responses, or just stress. Common symptoms are drooping of the mouth or eyelid, difficulty closing one eye, drooling, trouble smiling, facial numbness, and sometimes pain around the jaw or ear. It can also affect taste and tear/saliva production.

Thankfully, almost everyone afflicted fully recovers within three to six months. Symptoms often peak within days of onset, then gradually improve. Mild cases may clear up in two to three weeks, while severe cases can take longer, with a minority experiencing long-term weakness of their facial muscles.

Lil Nas X appearing relatively upbeat in his video is an indication he’s been told to expect a full recovery. He’s currently preparing to release his second album Dreamboy, which was expected to drop soon. However, if he’s suffering from facial paralysis he may be unable to perform live for a while, so the album may be postponed for a few months until he’s recovered sufficiently.

Either way, we hope he’s back to full health soon. Though he doesn’t seem scared, experiencing any kind of paralysis, temporary or not, is innately traumatic. Here’s hoping he gets some rest and the best treatment possible.

Yesterday Katy Perry went to outer space. The pop icon blasted away from her home planet aboard Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard rocket, traveling to just above the Karman line, the boundary between outer space and Earth’s atmosphere. Eleven minutes after liftoff, the capsule touched back down, with Perry returning safely to Earth.

Or… did she? Social media has seized upon a conspiracy theory that while Perry did indeed go into space, she never truly returned. So who – or what – is strolling around in her skin?

That’s not her. Something happened up there. https://t.co/YEQ7RgutvX

— cory snearowski (@corysnearowski) April 14, 2025

The most likely answer is aliens, as scientists have concluded that space is, by definition, where they live. But we shouldn’t count out the existence of some kind of atmospheric ghost, or even an earth-bound cerebral parasite already inside Perry’s brain that was somehow activated by celestial radiation bombardment.

All that said, the consensus is building that the Katy Perry we now have to deal with is some kind of polymorphic shapeshifter that assumed her form for nefarious alien reasons. After all, if you were going to launch a stealthy invasion of Earth, Perry might be an ideal vehicle. Even better, there’s a telltale sign that everyone should look out for. If she’s now a secret alien, her music might get better:

and then suddenly her music starts getting better…. hmm

— Olive Maigo (@NonaiDenpa_) April 14, 2025

If she starts releasing good music you'll know they replaced the real Katy Perry with a clone. https://t.co/8b22sbFWqI

— Chris Hardiman (@AJoyForever83) April 14, 2025

In another cruel twist, some theorize that, as the speed of radio waves means aliens may only now be hearing radio from 2010, they might have inhabited Perry only to be disappointed that she’s now much less relevant than they’d assumed:

the shapeshifting alien that came down in katy perry's rocket is probably really confused why they don't have access to the resources of a relevant celebrity rn

— femmepire (@dykengard) April 15, 2025

All of which makes us wonder what happened to the “real” Katy Perry? If she were jettisoned from the capsule, she may now be forever drifting through space, still traveling the cosmos as a frozen pop star popsicle long after humanity has consumed itself in nuclear fire and environmental destruction. Who knows, maybe millions of years from now some bizarre future alien civilization will retrieve the frozen Perry and defrost her to discover mankind’s secrets?

Then again, if she starts singing ‘Woman’s World’, we have no doubt the aliens will immediately blast her back into space once more for the next intergalactic empire to deal with.