Katy Perry has been accused of bullying a young mother on Sunday’s episode of American Idol.
Sara Beth Liebe, a 25-year-old mother of three children, told the ABC reality show’s judge panel which included Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie, that her music experience was primarily church choir and karaoke nights. (RELATED: School Shooting Survivor Brings Katy Perry To Tears During ‘American Idol’ Performance)
This caused Perry to seemingly make negative remarks which led the show’s fans to claim that she was “mom-shaming” Liebe, the Decider reported.
“Is this your dream?” Perry told Liebe. The singer appeared to nervously respond, “um.”
“Is it now? If it’s not your dream then you might need to leave because there’s a lot of dreams behind you,” Perry continued.
Liebe continued that she was “still processing” being away from her children in order to sing in front of the famous judges, then she started singing “You Know I’m No Good” by Amy Winehouse. However, Perry appeared to be unimpressed and told her, “Come on, we need more. That’s not enough,” the New York Post noted.
She then asked Liebe to sing “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John, then added, “‘Show us what your voice can do. Take it to the limit. No looking back. Sing it like it’s your new dream.”
As Liebe finished singing, Perry referred to her as an “Accidental American Idol” and “a comic strip character just” come “to life.”
One Twitter user wrote: “Boo to Katy Perry for mom shaming Sara Beth. Insinuating that she has been ‘laying on the table too much’ to have 3 kids by age 25. A young mother following a dream while raising her children should be raised up not put down. #AmericanIdol.”
Perry and Bryan eventually voted for her to move onto the next round while Richie voted against her.
On the Feb. 26 episode of American Idol, Perry was brought to tears after a performance by a school shooting survivor.
