DESIGNATION X-8: TAKING UP SPACE, PART 1

The contents of this file are not in any way intended to persuade, influence, or perpetuate belief or disbelief of the subject matter, or persons mentioned therein. All content is purely speculatory and not meant to be perceived as fact.

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In the wake of the poorly received Blue Origin space flight, many people are left with a bad taste in their mouths, and an even poorer view of the celebrities involved. Since 2020, the general public has had an increasingly negative view of celebrities as a whole -- a trend that continues in 2025. While most people are struggling to pay their bills, hold down jobs, and put food on the table, these 6 women took a $500,000, 11-minute flight to space... just because. Oh, and that's not $500k total, that's $500k each. I wonder what else they could have done with that money.

The criticism has been hard and heavy, especially for one Katy Perry -- however, the controversial flight will not be the focus of this file. The backlash has led to some rather interesting past criticisms being unearthed in the process, as people reminisce about their reasons for not supporting her. From past relationships, to sexual assault, to bullying elderly people out of their homes, to openly satanic performances -- we're here to comb through them all together.

THE ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS

1. She, like many other celebs, has had a problem with keeping her hands to herself. On August 11th, 2019, a model named Josh Kloss posted on Instagram about his experience meeting Katy and starring in her music video for "Teenage Dream" in 2010 -- he also accused her of assaulting him at a party. While he described Katy's behavior on set as "cool, kind and professional", he explains that her behavior off-set was very different. When running into her at a party in 2011, Kloss said they hugged, but then as he turned to introduce Katy to a friend, she pulled his Adidas sweatpants and underwear out as far as she could to show a couple of her guy friends, and the crowd around them, his private parts.

Several of Perry's friends of course jumped to her defense, claiming that Kloss had an "obsession" with Perry since filming the video, and that his accusations were somehow retaliation for being "spurned" by her. The alleged incident happened at director Johnny Wujek's birthday party -- and unfortunately, Wujek himself added to the denials. "This is such bullshit. Katy would never do something like that. We all know about your ongoing obsession with her since the day of filming that video. You were writing her music, and planning an imaginary future with her. It's not ok to do this to people who have done nothing but uplift and inspire others. Focus on your life and your daughter and move on, Josh." Wujek wrote in a comment on the post.

Kloss wrote a follow-up post sharing alleged emails with Perry's team, in which he says they dictated what he could and couldn't say about the singer in interviews, as a means to protect her image.

2. Just two days after Kloss's initial post, a Russian journalist named Tina Kandelaki also accused Katy of trying to kiss her without her consent while intoxicated. "Once I was invited to a private party with Katy Perry, where she, being pretty tipsy, chose me as an object for the manifestation of her passion." She said in an interview with a Russian media outlet. "I managed to fight back -- strength training was not in vain -- and Katy instantly found a new victim for kisses, hugs and dirty dances." 

Katy herself has never fully addressed these accusations herself. When asked if the allegations were untrue in 2020, she said "I don't comment on all the things that are said about me because if I chase that dragon, it would be about true and false-ing my whole life. It's distracting from the real MeToo movement."

A strangely vague and dismissive response from someone who claims to be an advocate for victims, considering statistics show that 1 in 6 men will experience sexual assault in their lifetime. But that number may actually be much higher, as a large majority of these instances go unreported due to stigmatization and shame, through the idea that men are supposed to enjoy sexual advances from women even if they are unwanted.

3. These were not even the first times Katy had issues keeping her hands to herself, especially around young men and boys. In 2017, she was caught on video touching Shawn Mendes's butt while on the iHeartRadio red carpet. Mendes, who was mid-interview, turned to look behind him before saying in shock: "Someone was just touching my butt... Oh, it was Katy Perry who was touching my butt." The interviewer even joked "well, what if you grabbed her butt back?" To which Shawn replied, "No, I cannot do that, that's not a game. That is not a joke." The two had never even met, and moments before the incident, Perry is seen in the background of the video watching him with an uncomfortable stare. 

4. Just a year later, she also kissed a 19-year-old American Idol contestant, Benjamin Glaze, without his consent. Glaze had mentioned he had never kissed a girl before, and apparently Katy thought she was entitled to take that first kiss as hers. Glaze was visibly uncomfortable, while Katy laughed and high-fived her fellow judges. Glaze told the NY Times: "I was a tad bit uncomfortable... I wanted to save it for my first relationship. Would I have done it if she asked? No, I would have said no. I know a lot of guys would be like 'heck yeah!' But for me, I was raised in a conservative family and I was uncomfortable immediately. I wanted my first kiss to be special."

5. Continuing the topic of SA, Katy has also been criticized for continuing to work with Dr. Luke, the producer accused of sexually assaulting and abusing Kesha. She doubled down on this in 2020, saying "I can only speak for my own experience, and my own experience with Dr. Luke was a healthy one."

6. Justin Bieber was also a victim of her straying hands (one of many hands, unfortunately... but we won't get into that in this file), during part 1 of his "All Around the World" special. Perry hugged him, but then quickly moved one of her hands downward to grab his butt. It's shown quickly in this video around 0:49. Justin Bieber "All Around The World" Recap: Katy Perry Grabs A Handfull Of Bieber Butt (And yes, the title is disgusting. I wish I could find a better video that shows the clip as clearly.)

7. While a young Bo Burnham was not directly touched by Katy, she did make a weird comment while introducing him at a show, saying "Thank god you're 18 at least." thank u mrs perry

8. A TikTok user (who I will leave anonymous) in 2021 also shared a story of her friend who went to one of Katy's concerts. According to her, Katy pulled the boy (13 at the time) on stage and kissed him on the lips.

THE LEGAL BATTLES

1. The first lawsuit arose in 2014, when a rapper by the name of Marcus Gray sued Katy for plagiarism. He claimed that in her song "Dark Horse", she copied an eight-note riff from his track "Joyful Noise". At the time, a jury agreed and awarded him the $2.8m payout -- however, a judge later overturned that verdict, saying "the melody was not particularly unique or rare". An appeals court upheld that decision, saying the original verdict "could have suffocated musical creativity". The court said Gray had "been attempting to claim an improper monopoly over conventional musical building blocks" when he first sued Perry. The ruling brought the eight-year trial to an end. A bit dramatic, if you ask me -- surely an artist with as many resources as Katy Perry could have come up with a melody of her own, no? Something also worth noting here is that Marcus Gray was not only a rapper, but a Christian rapper -- and Joyful Noise is very much about faith and Christianity. The irony of Katy Perry twisting the melody into her song which is very much not Christian, will become increasingly relevant later.

Here are the two songs so you can compare the melodies yourself... (12) Joyful Noise - YouTube

Katy Perry - Dark Horse (Audio)

2. The second suit started just a year later in 2015, this time over a piece of property -- specifically, a convent in California which was home to a group of Catholic nuns. 52 Sisters had first purchased the structure in 1972 for $600k, and lived in it until 2011 when only 5 of them remained. In 2011, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles forced the elderly sisters to leave the convent against their wills. Sister Catherine Rose Holzman told Billboard, "I think it's because they were trying to sell our property. They had been trying for years even when we lived there, but none of us ever wanted to leave." So when the Archbishop Jose Gomez agreed to sell the property to Perry without any input or involvement from the Sisters, the women were immediately concerned.

Now, it's worth mentioning here that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles had some very serious sexual abuse accusations thrown at them in the 90s, and they were eventually sued. In 2007, the Archdiocese agreed to settle with the victims of the abuse and pay them a whopping settlement of $660 MILLION. So... they were hurting for money.

According to Billboard, Perry had showed interest in the property as early as 2013, saying she planned to move in with her mother and grandmother. Gomez accepted her $14.5 million cash offer sometime in 2013-2014. But Holzman and Callanan, two of the remaining living Sisters at the time, refused. Holzman had researched Perry -- and found the video of her saying she sold her soul to the devil in exchange for success. Holzman said, "Even mentioning that she would sell her soul to Satan is against our principles and beliefs. Katy Perry represents everything we don't believe in. It would be a sin to sell to her." Callanan shared the same view, telling LA Times that she was particularly unimpressed with Perry's 2015 Super Bowl halftime show.

However, at the request of the Archbishop, the two Sisters met with Perry in May 2015. In an attempt to win them over, Perry sang the gospel song "Oh Happy Day", and showed them her tattoo of the word "Jesus" on her wrist. ...Except, she had to google the lyrics to the classic song, because she didn't know them. The Sisters were (obviously) not convinced, and instead sold the estate themselves to a restaurateur, Dana Hollister. Hollister made her offer directly to the Sisters: $15.5 million and $100,000 in cash up front. They accepted and immediately turned over the deed. Hollister move in shortly after, intending to turn the property into a boutique hotel. The Sisters told NY Times that this offer was preferable partly because she agreed to keep the property open to the public. Hollister told Billboard, "I don't give a shit about the money. I met these sisters and realized, 'if I don't help, who is going to?'"

Just months later, the Archdiocese claimed the Sisters had been "taken advantage of" by the transaction, and together with Perry, they sued Hollister. Ironic, this sudden concern for the Sisters; after initially trying to sell their home out from under them. A judge unfortunately sided with the Archdiocese and invalidated the purchase, but ruled that Hollister could continue to live there while the lawsuits were pending. According to court documents, Perry's team also claimed that Hollister "took advantage of vulnerable, elderly nuns, who she malevolently convinced to oppose the Roman Catholic Church".

Hollister told Billboard, "It's interesting that she has all this girl power and she's running over a woman and five nuns. We are going to Rome. We are not quitting now -- we are just getting warmed up."

Unfortunately, in November 2017 Hollister was found guilty of "malice and fraud" for interfering with Perry's purchase. She was ordered to pay the Archdiocese $3.47 million in attorney fees, and Perry's company $1.57 million in fees. She declared bankruptcy shortly after. In March 2018, Holzman and Callanan both accompanied Hollister to bankruptcy court in order to show their support for her. While standing outside the LA courtroom, Holzman told Fox, "Katy Perry, please stop. It's not doing anyone any good except hurting a lot of people." Hours later, she collapsed and died during the court proceeding. On June 8th, 2019, Callanan told NY Post that Perry "has blood on her hands". She believes that the stress caused by the case, as well as having to find a new home after 38 years, killed her.

Now, even though the judge ruled in favor of the Archdiocese, the sale of the property still required the Vatican's approval. In September 2017, it was reported that the Vatican would not approve Perry's purchase until she found a replacement for the property's House of Prayer. Perry refused to do so, and was not able to come to an agreement with the Vatican, and therefore was not permitted to buy the property. So in the end, after all that trouble, no one ended up with the home. Was it worth bankrupting a well-intentioned restaurateur, and possibly causing the death of the Sister? Katy certainly thought so, because she did it AGAIN in 2020, this time to an elderly, disabled veteran. 

This part is getting a bit long, so I'll pick up with that case (and much more) in part 2. Down below are some other links relevant to the incidents described in this file, as well as a link to 1 in 6, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing confidential help and support for male victims of sexual assault and abuse.

Close up video of Perry ogling Shawn Mendes on the red carpet: KATY PERRY & SHAWN MENDES (KATY LOVES SHAWN) #SHAWNTY 2017

Mendes's reaction with the interviewer afterward: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=409kIZD3UbA

Katy Perry kisses American Idol contestant Benjamin Glaze: Katy Perry gives Benjamin Glaze first kiss on American Idol

1 in 6 website: Sexual Abuse & Assault of Boys & Men | Confidential Support for Men