Fans of Katy Perry might now have someone to point fingers to for her recent work with Dr. Luke. In a recent The Manager’s Playbook interview, the singer’s A&R manager Chris Anokute said that it was his “desire” to reconnect Perry with the disgraced producer for her album 143.
“I think there was some backlash on her reuniting with Dr. Luke, which was my desire,” Anokute claimed. (Skip to 1:30:00 into the video below.) “[It was] my recommendation for her to get back into the studio with Luke because Luke is a dear friend.”
“I thought it was a good time to reunite them after 10 years of not working together,” he continued. “Every single he’s ever done with her has gone Number One. The press just didn’t react favorably and they tried to assassinate him and her.”
When Rolling Stone reached out for comment via Instagram, Anokute wrote back, “You must be bored. God bless you.”
The backlash to the singer’s reconnection with Luke on the album came quickly after Rolling Stone confirmed last summer that Perry reconnected with Max Martin, Dr. Luke, and several others for the album following the release of “Woman’s World.” At the time, a Capitol Records source told Rolling Stone that “Katy knew exactly the album she wanted to make and put together the team to make it happen.”
Music fans, especially those on X, have long expressed their dislike for Luke given the sex abuse allegation from Kesha years prior, even following the settlement of his defamation lawsuit in 2023. In the new interview, Anokute claimed to believe that “all the stuff he was accused of is actually not true,” seemingly in reference to the Kesha allegation.
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Years before 143, Luke and Martin worked on many of Perry’s biggest hits, including smashes from her first three albums like One of the Boys‘ “I Kissed a Girl,” Teenage Dream‘s title track, “Last Friday Night,” “California Gurls,” “E.T.,” and “The One That Got Away” along with the vast majority of Prism, including “Dark Horse,” “Unconditionally,” and “Roar.”
Despite the success of Perry’s previous work with Luke, 143 was poorly received by many fans and most critics. Anokute also said he believed 143 had “massive hits” despite the negative reaction. A Rolling Stone review called the record a “failed attempt to rekindle her glory years.”
