After years of keeping their relationship relatively private, Katy Perry tried to use her romance with fiancé Orlando Bloom as a means to boost interest in her new album, 143, insiders claim.
The 39-year-old singer has been on a controversial promotional tour for her seventh studio release, which became the lowest-charting album on Metacritic since 2011, when it was released last month.
Fans were shocked by Perry’s decision to share explicit information about her sex life with the British actor, 47, and upload racy messages from him to social media as she began teasing new songs. The A-list couple also enjoyed a steamy kiss after performing live at the MTV VMAs.
But attempts to boost sales of the album, featuring controversial producer Dr. Luke, to stimulate failed, claim insiders who labeled both the record and the subsequent promo as a ‘train wreck’.
“Katy sees that she may not be able to recover from this and is blaming everyone but herself,” a source told DailyMail.com exclusively.
Katy Perry tried to use her romance with fiancé Orlando Bloom as a means to boost interest in her new album, 143, insiders told DailyMail.com
“This was like a train wreck in slow motion. Everyone saw it coming. But it was ultimately her idea to have Dr. to hire Luke.”
The insider continued, “She has tried to sell it on her sexuality and use Orlando to promote it with jokes about their sex life.
“She thought that the less clothes she wears and the more raunchy she is, the more publicity she would get.”
Bloom and Perry got engaged in 2019 and welcomed their daughter, Daisy Dove, the following year.
The British actor also shares son Flynn, 13, with his ex-wife, model Miranda Kerr, 41.
Perry stepped up her posts about Bloom for the first time amid the backlash to her album’s first single, Woman’s World.
Despite being billed as a powerful feminist anthem, the song was dismissed as unoriginal, hypocritical and formulaic.
Many also disagreed with Perry working with Dr. Luke, the music producer who Kesha accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit that was later dismissed. Dr. Luke has consistently denied the allegations.
After keeping their relationship relatively private for years, fans were shocked by Perry’s decision to share intimate information about her life with the British actor.
Perry, 39, shared a rare Instagram video of her shirtless fiancé shortly after her first single from the album, Woman’s World, was released to mixed reviews
Days after the song was released, Perry’s appearedheard a rare clip of Bloom taking off his T-shirt as they ran on neighboring treadmills.
Weeks later, the Peacock singer took it a step further when she bragged about performing a sex act on her partner as a playful way to reward him for completing household chores.
The singer, who has worked with the Lord of the Rings actor for eight years, spoke about her love language in an X-rated interview on Call Her Daddy.
“When I come downstairs and the kitchen is clean, and you’ve done everything, and you’ve done all the dishes, and you’ve closed all the pantry doors, then you better be ready to get your dick sucked,” she told host Alex Cooper.
‘I mean literally. That’s my love language.’
Towards the end of the segment, Perry – who previously called Orlando a “wild stallion” – playfully exclaimed: “I don’t need a red Ferrari!” I can buy a red Ferrari. Just do the dishes. I’ll suck your cock! It’s that simple.’
The singer continued to make cheeky comments in interviews before the pair put on an amorous display at the MTV Video Music Awards, where Perry was honored with the Video Vanguard Award.
The duo couldn’t keep their hands off each other as they locked lips on stage after he handed her the gong.
The pair also shared a steamy kiss at the MTV Video Music Awards, where Perry was honored
Perry also boasted about performing a sex act on Bloom as a playful way to reward him for completing household chores in an X-rated podcast interview
Bloom paid a sweet tribute to his “loving and irresistible” fiancée during his speech.
He told the audience: “She loves her with all her heart, and it’s quite irresistible. I see it reflected everywhere; in our home, in her love for her work, but especially in her love for her fans. Congratulations on this honor, honey, I’m so proud of you. 1-4-3. Ladies and gentlemen, your MTV video vanguard for 2024: Katheryn Hudson, Katy Perry.”
She gave another during her acceptance speech cheeky comment about their sex life and telling the audience: ‘Thank you to Orlando for keeping me grounded, celebrating and doing the dishes.’
The star’s album title is a code for “I love you,” which was often used in messages sent via pagers in the 1990s.
Katy said in a statement: “I wanted to create a bold, exuberant, celebratory dance-pop album with the symbolic numerical expression of love as an ongoing message.”
It was the star’s first album since 2020’s Smile, which also failed to match the success of her previous records.
A scathing review from a leading entertainment outlet stated that Perry is “struggling to regain past glory at flat 143.”
But sources claim the singer’s hopes of using the relationship as a way to boost sales didn’t work
Even before its release, the album faced increasing criticism over Perry’s decision to collaborate with Dr. Luke, who Kesha accused of sexual assault. He denied allegations
The Guardian gave it two out of five stars and said the album “isn’t the expected disaster – but it’s not good either.”
Mark Kennedy for AP said the album was “uninspired and forgettable” and added: “143 has no soul or emotion; it’s just a number.”
The Independent also gave it two stars, saying it was ‘painfully dated and distinctly out of touch’.
Critic Steven J. Horowitz, who writes for Varietysaid: ‘As with her past albums, the lyricism on ‘143’ is steeped in clichés, as if generated by AI.’
Even before its release, the album faced increasing criticism over Perry’s decision to collaborate with Dr. Luke.
A source previously told DailyMail.com: ‘She was insane to think Dr. Luke was a good idea. She didn’t listen to anyone.
“Instead of diving deep and making art, she released something that sounded like it could have been on an album of hers from 2010.”