An American Idol contestant has spoken out after she was ‘bullied’ by Katy Perry during her audition.
The Roar singer has been slammed online after her ‘hurtful’ reaction to Sara Beth Liebe, a contestant who wanted to impress the judges with her voice.
But instead of receiving praise, she got an awkward start when she said that she was not sure if it was a dream of her to win American idol.
Her comment did not sit well with the Dark Horse hitmaker, who told the mother-of-three: “Is this your dream? Is it now? If it’s not your dream then you might need to leave because there’s a lot of dreams behind you.”
Liebe proceeded to sing her rendition of Amy Whitehouse’s ‘You Know I’m No Good’ but her performance did not impress Perry, who asked her to sing a different song.
“Come on, we need more. That’s not enough. Try (Elton John’s) ‘Bennie and the Jets.’”
Bryan then asked: “What do you have to lose?” to which Perry quickly replied: “Nothing. It’s not her dream yet.”
The 38-year-old then told Liebe: “Show us what your voice can do. Take it to the limit. No looking back. Sing it like it’s your new dream.”
The contestant started singing Elton John’s classic to impress Perry but to no avail.
The Hot N Cold singer did not sugarcoat anything when giving her feedback, saying: “Accidental American Idol. I feel like a comic strip character just came to life.”
She went on: “Look, if it’s not your dream, it’s not gonna go far. Because I also respect everyone that’s walking through that door who will lay down their life for this golden ticket, you know?”
While Bryan and Perry gave her a ‘yes,’ viewers took to social media and slammed Perry for the way she spoke to the contestant.
Now, Liebe has spoken out about the incident and said: “At the start of my audition, before I sang, I mentioned that I had three children and was a young mother and Katy Perry made a joke – that wasn’t super kind,” she said.
Liebe continued: “I don’t really have too much to say on my feelings about it because I feel like it’s probably pretty self-explanatory.
“I mean, it was embarrassing to have that on TV and it was hurtful and, you know, that’s that.
“But I did want to take this opportunity to just say that I think that women supporting and uplifting other women is so cool and I think that mum shaming is super lame. And I think that it’s hard enough to be a mum and it’s hard enough to be a woman.”
The contestant also gave some advice to other young mothers. “I see all of the young moms and just moms in general who have commented on all of the videos and posts and everything and I just wanted to say that I see you and I hear you and I am grateful for you and you’re worthy and keep loving your babies.
“And I think that if you’re a good mama and you love your babies that’s all that really matters and other comments just don’t feel necessary and yeah that’s all I have to say on the matter.”
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