Tuesday’s election will determine the Los Angeles mayoral race, which comes down between progressive candidate Karen Bass, California’s representative for its 37th congressional district; and billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, who is running on a campaign of public safety and getting the unhoused off the streets.
Naturally, it being Los Angeles, the celebs are getting involved, and people are none too happy that Katy Perry has officially endorsed Caruso.
While Caruso is running as a newly-minted moderate democrat, the 63-year-old has a lifelong history of republican politics. And yes, this includes donating to anti-choice politicians and organizations, as Planned Parenthood pointed out in an open letter earlier this year after Caruso came out in support of protecting a woman’s right to choose. (In reality, this was an easy call for him to make, as the eventual mayor of Los Angeles is unlikely to have much of a say when it comes to reproductive healthcare access, which is dictated at a state and federal level.)
“I am voting for a myriad of reasons (see the news) but in particular because Los Angeles is a hot mess [at the moment],” Perry wrote, adding hashtags in support of California Proposition 21, a local rent control initiative, and Proposition 28, which seeks to fund art and music programs for California public schools grades K-12. At least she got some of it right!
But still, one might argue that a tiger cannot change its stripes. And Perry’s endorsement seems particularly eyebrow-raising considering that the day before, she retweeted a video in support of reproductive rights, reminding people to vote.
Do as she says, not as she does — we guess?
At any rate, fans were not exactly amused that Perry joined the esteemed ranks of Chris Pratt and Gwyneth Paltrow by stumping for Caruso, as her name began trending on Election Day.
“I love all the horrible [Los Angeles] celebrities (Chris Pratt, Katy Perry, etc.) making pro-Caruso posts that are like The City Is Falling Apart and all they mean is that they have to occasionally see unhoused people from their limos, that’s it,” tweeted Welcome to Night Vale author Joseph Fink.
“I don’t wanna see Katy Perry, Kim, Gwyneth Paltrow and every other celebrity who voted for that candidate crying online about reproductive rights and [LGTBQ+] rights being taken away when they broadcasted to the world that they’re voting for a candidate against those rights,” added another user.
Comedian Travon Free chalked Perry’s vote up to “a rich white woman voting for a fake democrat who will ultimately have no effect on the quality of her life but will worsen the lives of many others.”
One user quipped that Perry tweeting out a pro-choice video while voting for Caruso would be “hilarious if it weren’t painfully dumb.”
Others trolled the 38-year-old with screengrabs from her Instagram post.
On the other hand, Jezebel editor-in-chief Laura Bassett reminded people that in a world of Perrys, Paltrows, and Pratts — be a Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Though Caruso was closing in on his opponent in the days leading up to the election, Bass is still largely favored to win — with or without Katy Perry’s vote.