ABC
"Keep loving your babies," says Sara Beth in the wake of her "American Idol" audition going viral for Katy Perry's off-color joke. "Nobody deserves to feel crappy about that."
update at 9:30am PT on 4/3/23
Sara Beth later quit the show during Hollywood Week, despite judge Katy Perry pleading with her to stay. See what went down by clicking here.
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One "American Idol" contestant is sounding off about her viral audition clip. The video took off on social media not so much because of Sara Beth's performance, but because she believes Katy Perry took a cheap shot at her before she sang.
"It was embarrassing to have that on TV," Sara said in a new TikTok video. "And it was hurtful."
She said Perry's joke "wasn't super kind." She went on to add, "I did want to take this opportunity to say that I think that women supporting and uplifting other women is so cool, and I think that mom shaming is super lame."
"It’s hard enough to be a mom and it’s hard enough to be a woman," she continued, thanking her followers for their support, as well as commenters on the original YouTube video, as well as across social media.
"I see you and I hear you and I am grateful for you," she said.
"Keep loving your babies; nobody deserves to feel crappy about that," she added. "I think if you’re a good mama and you love your babies that’s all that really matters and other comments don’t feel necessary."
Katy's comment came as an attempt at levity when the young mother first walked in. Sarah shared that she was 25 years old and a mother of three. The judges thought she looked much younger, which is why Katy pretended she was about to pass out.
"If Katy lays on the table, I think I'm going to pass out," Sara joked, to which Katy shot back, "Honey, you been laying on the table too much!" in reference to her three children. TooFab has reached out to Katy's reps for comment.
Later, Katy pushed Sara for more throughout the actual audition. When Katy asked if this was her dream, Sara hemmed and hawed a bit, which seemed to put Katy off. She quickly told Sara, "If it's not your dream, you might need to leave because there's a lot of dreams behind you."
She urged Sara to give more on a second song, which the aspiring singer did, but it was clear that Sara's purported lack of passion for all of it wasn't sitting particularly well with the judge.
In the end, Katy voted with Luke Bryan for her, overriding Lionel Richie's "no" vote, sending Sara to Hollywood. Those episodes have already been filmed, so it remains to be seen if Sara will make it to the live episodes yet to come, where she and Katy would come face to face after this public response.
