American Idol judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie have defended Katy Perry's controversial kiss with a contestant on the show.
Last week, Katy kissed 19-year-old singer-songwriter Benjamin Glaze after his audition, as he'd confessed he'd never kissed a girl. Benjamin later said that the whole thing was a "tad bit uncomfortable".
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In an Instagram post, he then clarified his comments by explaining that he did not think he was "sexually harassed" by Katy, adding that the "uncomfortable" situation he was referring to was purely the fact he hadn't "been kissed before and was not expecting it".
And now Katy's fellow judge Luke Bryan has told The Morning Show that it's all been blown out of proportion. "It's unfortunate that stuff like that turns into a story that big," he commented.
"We are going to get it right sometimes and get it wrong sometimes. We're in there critiquing people. I may say something one day that everybody's not going to like. That's just what you signed up for.
"At the end of the day, me and Lionel and Katy and Ryan, our hearts are in the right place."
Fellow judge Lionel Richie concurred in a separate chat with The AP, arguing: "Katy is one of those phenomenons, she can do things and get away with it. It's all in fun, it's all in jest.
"I was there, I'm a witness to it. She was hamming it up, then it was nothing more than that. Of course, when you do it to the public you're going to get two different views of what's happening, but trust me it was all in fun.
"Everybody's having a good time – including the contestant."
It's been an eventful season for Katy so far on American Idol as viewers thought she had made a shady remark towards Taylor Swift in a recent episode.
The moment happened when one contestant was asked who he looked up to as a music artist and he replied Taylor. "Oh, you don't have to be sorry. I love her, as a songwriter, as well," Katy replied after the contestant had apologised for his answer.
American Idol airs on ABC in the US and Amazon Prime Video in the UK.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
