‘All the Awards Shows Are Fake’: Katy Perry Slams ‘Constructs’ of Fame

In the lead-up to the release of her new album Witness last week, pop star Katy Perry participated in a 96-hour YouTube livestream meant to reveal every element of her newly liberated self.

Her openness is a huge part of her new on- and offstage persona, one that she’s been building ever since her political awakening in the fall, and has carried over into her subsequent musical endeavors. In a new profile for the New York Times, Perry also shared some sharp comments on the music industry’s top honors that helped give her a platform.

“All the awards shows are fake,” she told the Times, “and all the awards that I’ve won are fake.” She continued on to call awards “constructs,” suggesting that they don’t have audiences’ true tastes in mind.

Perry has been the recipient of a litany of awards in her blockbuster pop career, including prizes from the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, People’s Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and many more. She has not yet, however, nabbed a Grammy, although she performed “Chained to the Rhythm” at that show’s 2017 event.

But despite that particular snub, she’s still the world’s most-followed person on Twitter — maybe an indicator of her suggestion that official awards are less important to her particular popularity than they might seem.