Katy Perry’s comeback single Woman’s World went down like a lead balloon so now it appears she has dressed as one.
The California Girl, 39, was spotted wearing a silver-coloured parachute while getting entangled in a series of compromising positions with a stuntman.
She was filming a new music video – reports that it is satire are unconfirmed – in Barcelona and was pictured performing aerial acrobatics.
Katy was joined by a cargo-wearing professional, who bore a resemblance to husband Orlando Bloom, on the shoot thought to be for single Lifetimes.
The stuntman helped the Roar popstar with several movements and, in one picture, was captured in between her legs as she dangled upside down.
He also appeared to assist Katy when her costume seemed to have swallowed her whole and went over her head.
In other pictures, the stuntman held tightly onto Katy as they were hoisted into the sky and also supported her as they landed back down on the ground.
Underneath her parachute, the I Kissed A Girl hitmaker wore a silver bra and matching knickers and rounded her outfit off with knee-high snakeskin boots.
She also sported more casual attire – grey bicycle shorts, an oversized hoodie, and a bright orange hat – as she either arrived or left the set.
Katy’s last music video for Woman’s World was accused of playing into the male gaze as it centred on a series of shots of scantily clad women, including close-ups of their chests, doing traditionally masculine jobs.
It was slammed by critics and viewers alike, with the most-liked comment on the video’s official YouTube listing from @bruno3, who said: ‘This is what a feminist video clip would look like if made by a guy.’
@ginergreek branded it ‘feminism if it was written by AI’, while @BB_writes said they genuinely believed it was a ‘Saturday Night Live parody.’
The reception to the Woman’s World video was so overwhelmingly negative Katy was later forced to claim on social media that it was ‘satire.’
The collective repulsion to the video followed an avalanche of criticism directed at the single, which features lyrics including: ‘Sexy, confident
So intelligent/ She is heaven-sent/ So soft, so strong.’
The Guardian’s reviewer gave it one star and said: ‘I felt stupider every sorry time I listened to it.’ Dazed said, ‘Woman’s World feels about as empowering as an advert for Vagisil.’
Many TikTok accounts said the lyrics to Woman’s World resembled songs they serenaded their cats with.
Fans also struggled to comprehend Katy’s decision to collaborate Dr. Luke on her new music ostensibly about feminism – a producer who was accused of sexually abusing popstar Kesha for years.
Given the furor swirling Woman’s World, it’s no surprise it failed to set the chart alight, debuting at a disappointing number 63 on the US Chart and 47 in the UK.
Katy, however, appeared to shrug off the song’s underwhelming performance and backlash in a recent Instagram post which she said was taken from ‘Planet Unbothered.’
Woman’s World is the first single from her seventh studio album 143, which will be released on September 20, a month before her 40th birthday.
Katy has had five number one singles in the UK with tracks including I Kissed A Girl, California Gurls and Roar, as well as two number one albums with Teenage Dream in 2010 and Prism in 2013.
Her last album, Smile, was released in 2020, and went to number five in the UK albums chart in the same month Katy gave birth to daughter Daisy Dove, with her partner, Lord Of The Rings actor Orlando.