Katy Perry was never known for playing it safe with her outfits. She’s a pop star who sucks red carpets like Halloween, couture like a punchline, and theme nights like a personal dare. Most of the time, it’s fun chaos. Sometimes, though, the outfit crosses the line from camp to “Can we not?”
Here are the most inappropriate (or at least most controversial) Katy Perry looks—what they looked like, and why people lost their minds.
1. The Met Gala Chandelier… and the Hamburger Afterparty
The theme for that year’s Met Gala was “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” and Katy Perry took that a bit too literally. She arrived in a Moschino dress that was honestly less of a dress and more of a Halloween costume. It was a literally giant chandelier with glowing candles and dangling crystals. Was it impressive in the sense that she actually wore a lighting fixture? Potentially. But it was also ridiculous, fit more for a very fancy costume party than a Met Gala fashion event, and impractical because she had to ride in the car standing up and couldn’t actually sit down in that outfit.
But Katy Perry went even further and, for the afterparty, showed up in an actual hamburger costume. Which, again, we get the joke that you might want some fast food at the afterparty, but that wasn’t really the time or the place. After all, the Met Gala is an haute couture event, not a kids’ Halloween party.
2. Sesame Street Appearance Deemed Too Inappropriate
In 2010, Katy appeared on Sesame Street and performed a G-rated version of “Hot N Cold” with Elmo, but it was her dress that caused a lot of controversy. She wore a corset-style bright green dress with a plunging neckline, and it was deemed to be too revealing for the show. The creators of Sesame Street tried to defend Katy by saying that their show was always written for both adults and children, so that they could watch the show with parents, and the celebrity guests are there for the parents. But ultimately, the segment with Katy Perry was pulled and only uploaded onto YouTube.
3. The “Hazardous” Spinning Bra
Katy Perry used to have this costume for her performances where she had a bra that looked like two spinning peppermint wheels. It definitely looked fun, but it was kind of dangerous because Katy did get her hair stuck in the mechanism and had to finish performing her song with her head at a weird angle. It didn’t cause any serious injury, but in the end it was deemed it was deemed to be too hazardous and eventually got banned, and the designers said they would try to create a safer version.
4. The Hand Sanitizer Costume During Peak Pandemic
The pandemic was a scary time for everyone, and while humour is a good way to deal with stress, sometimes celebrities went too far or made jokes that were simply tone-deaf. Katy Perry ended up in that situation when she dressed up as a bottle of hand sanitiser for one of the American Idol episodes that were filmed remotely.
Some people thought it was a classic goofy Katy Perry thing to wear. However, most people online were upset and complained that it was tone-deaf and was making light of a very dangerous time.
