Lily Allen is taking back her criticism of fellow pop singer Katy Perry‘s involvement in the Blue Origin space flight.
Allen, 39, issued an apology during the Monday, April 28, episode of her “Miss Me?” podcast where she blamed her “own internalized misogyny” for making past comments about the trip. After Allen’s cohost Miquita Oliver mentioned Meghan Markle, the singer elaborated on the recent drama.
“Because we’re talking about a very famous female person who’s a bit divisive, I would actually like to apologize for being mean about Katy Perry last week,” Allen noted. “There was actually no need for me to bring her name into it, and it was my own internalized misogyny.”
Allen admitted she has had regrets about her past commentary.
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“I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and it was just completely unnecessary to pile on with her,” she continued. “I do disagree with what it was that they did, but she wasn’t the only person that did it. She was possibly the most famous and the one that divides people the most. There was something in me that decided to choose her as the person that should… Anyway, I just, I’m really sorry.”
Allen concluded: “I would have been hurt if it had been me and someone in my industry used me and my name. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Katy Perry, I know you don’t listen to the show, but yeah, sorry.”
Earlier this month, Allen weighed in on Perry’s time with the all-female Blue Origin crew. The group — which also included CBS Mornings host Gayle King, Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos’ fiance Lauren Sánchez, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn — traveled to space on April 14 for an 11-minute flight.
“Do we want to talk about Katy Perry and her mates all going up to space for 12 minutes?” Allen asked in a past episode, which Oliver replied to, “I think that if they’re going to go to space for 12 minutes, we can talk about it for 10 seconds, and that’s about all it deserves.”
Allen asked “in all seriousness” what the point of the space trip was.
“I just think it’s so out of touch,” she said. “We’re on the brink of recession, people are really f****ing struggling to make ends meet and get food on their table. I don’t know about how things feel in London, but in New York, it’s really f****ing expensive at the moment. It’s hard to leave the house without spending $500, and I’m not even joking. It’s cheaper for me to DoorDash food, to get takeaway, than it is for me to go and get groceries and cook.”
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At the time, Allen clarified that she’s “really OK financially,” adding, “[But] it feels glaringly obvious how f****ing hard it is to make it work in a city like this. I know it’s not necessarily a nationwide issue in terms of New York is definitely at the steeper end of the country than other places, it just seems like things are hard at the moment.”
Allen added: “[They sent Katy Perry to space] for absolutely no f****ing reason! It’s like … We send people to space to discover things, like scientific reason. And the fact that they have made it some sort of feminist thing.”
While Allen walked back her criticism, she wasn’t the only one to express their confusion about the Blue Origin space flight, with Joe Rogan, Jessica Chastain and Olivia Wilde speaking out as well.
Perry, 40, for her part, has remained largely tight-lipped about the backlash. During her Lifetimes Tour stop in Mexico City on Wednesday, April 23, Perry reportedly asked the audience, “Has anyone ever called your dreams crazy?”
