This ‘Canceled’ Katy Perry Single From 2007 Is Suddenly Going Viral
Katy Perry's 2007 track "Ur So Gay" is going viral on TikTok 17 years later.
The song was originally released as part of an EP of the same title and later appeared on the singer's second studio album (and first under the name Katy Perry) called One of the Boys in 2008.
The album made Perry a household name, including hits like "I Kissed a Girl," "Hot n Cold," and "Waking Up in Vegas."
Now, fans are looking back at some of the album's most controversial lyrics that haven't necessarily aged well... Especially on "Ur So Gay."
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Some fans find the song amusing as a relic of the late 2000s when pop culture was decidedly more unhinged.
"This song is a personal love letter to all the nail polish-wearing, fake Fiona Apple fan, self-proclaimed feminist men who steal one woman's personality to get with other women," one person wrote in a caption on TikTok.
Another fan called the opening line about a guy "hanging himself with his H&M scarf" the "coldest opening line of any song ever."
Another person agreed, saying, "Imagine pissing Katy Perry off so much that her opening line for your diss track is 'I hope u h@ng yourself.'"
"It seems that each line kinda makes fun of different emo guys on the scene at that time," one viewer commented, referring to the time when Perry was a featured performer on Warped Tour before becoming the pop star we know today.
That's why many fans have theorized that the song was written about either Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz or Tokio Hotel's Bill Kaulitz.
Is Katy Perry's 'Ur So Gay' About Pete Wentz?
Many fans are convinced that "Ur So Gay" was written about Pete Wentz, whom Perry shared mutual friends with back in the day.
One piece of evidence that has fans believing in the theory is the fact that there's a poster in the music video of a rock star named "Pierre Wertz," which many think was a play on Wentz.
Some fans on Tumblr even think that the Ken doll used in the video resembles Wentz.
"The hemmingway comment is a direct Pete wentz reference," someone else wrote in the comments of a TikTok video.
"Pete used to wear scarves all the time," another person said.
Is Katy Perry's 'Ur So Gay' About Bill Kaulitz?
Another popular theory is that the song could be about Tokio Hotel frontman Bill Kaulitz.
"Ok so a little context katy perry got super jealous of Tokio hotel and even wrote a song abt them (mainly directed at bill) called 'ur so gay', bc they got super popular really fast, and called bill gay and body shamed him, even though he was not gay," one fan wrote on TikTok.
Other fans claimed in the comments of multiple TikTok videos that the song is about Kaulitz because Perry reportedly dedicated the song to him several times during her concerts.
"Guys when she said this ones for Tokio Hotel she sang [it] after they won an award and was dedicating it to them as a like congrats," one fan explained.
Why Is Katy Perry's 'Ur So Gay' Offensive?
On the other hand, many fans aren't amused by the song's lyrics, such as the scarf line alluding to suicide and the "homophobic" theme of the song.
In a 2017 article from Affinity magazine, it was reported that, "Yes, the song is homophobic, and also rude."
However, others don't consider it to be that bad.
"She's said some dumb things in her time, but honestly...you could make the argument that this song isn't even necessarily homophobic. She's just conflating a lot of stereotypically feminine things with gayness," one fan defended on Reddit.
"I'm gay and was in High School at the time and bopped along to it, it was a product of its time, I think it's actually pretty f--king funny. People can find it offensive now, but to demonize her for something (and THAT of all things) that's more than a decade old is dumb," another person agreed.
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Gallery Credit: Stacker