On Monday, the global pop sensation announced she had no choice but to cancel her highly anticipated Guadalajara concerts on May 1 and 2, due to incomplete construction of the Arena Guadalajara. The venue, still under development, failed to meet safety requirements, forcing the singer to pull the plug just days before showtime.
“I wish I could fix this but it is beyond my control,” Katy wrote in an emotional Instagram post. “You guys mean the world to me… I will be thinking about how I can create something special for the fans in Guadalajara in the future.”
It’s a bitter blow for Perry and her loyal fans in Mexico. The Guadalajara shows were part of her jam-packed Lifetimes world tour, slotted between her performances in Mexico City and Monterrey. She’s slated to launch her U.S. leg in Houston on May 7, with more than two dozen shows to follow, and then head to Europe in the fall—including a double feature at London’s O2 Arena.
But it’s not just the canceled concerts making headlines.
Just last week, Perry embarked on what was supposed to be a triumphant, history-making moment: joining an all-female crew aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spaceflight. The pop star flew alongside journalist Gayle King, rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, activist Amanda Nguyen, and others in a mission Perry later described as “a journey about love and belonging.”
Upon return, the optics didn’t quite land. Katy’s dramatic descent—clutching a daisy to the sky, dropping to her knees, kissing the ground, and waxing poetic about love and the Earth—has been lampooned across social media and even within celebrity circles.
“She doesn’t regret going to space,” an insider told *DailyMail.com*. “What she does regret is making a public spectacle out of it.”
The backlash has been swift and layered. Critics called the post-flight behavior over-the-top, especially in contrast to real astronauts like Sunita Williams, who was recently stranded in orbit for over nine months. Others questioned the environmental cost of the flight, especially given Perry’s outspoken advocacy for climate action and her past work with UNICEF to raise awareness about climate-related issues affecting vulnerable populations.
And then there’s the irony: a daisy flown to space in honor of her daughter, a moment of beauty turned into a talking point about spectacle and PR stunts.
Public figures from Olivia Wilde to Amy Schumer piled on, framing the mission as a tone-deaf vanity project for Blue Origin. The optics of singing in microgravity while promoting a tour didn’t help. Still, Katy Perry isn’t down for the count.
Her tour continues, her fan base remains fiercely loyal, and her history proves she knows how to bounce back. But for now, she’s juggling two very different realities—one where she’s grounded by venue issues and another where she’s literally touched the stars. Whether these missteps are mere stumbles or signs of a shifting public perception remains to be seen.
