Katy Perry made her long-awaited return to pop music this month with the release of her seventh studio album, 143, marking her first in four years. But her big comeback has been plagued by criticism and controversy, with many calling it a ‘complete flop’.

Others have branded it ‘mediocre’ and ‘generic’, while her lead single Woman’s World – which stalled at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 – has been described by some as ‘dated’ and ‘out of touch’. One critic even claimed that the album is ‘rife with clichés, as though it was generated through AI’.

The singer also faced a string of backlash ahead of its release over her decision to work with record producer Dr Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, after he settled his longstanding defamation lawsuit with pop star Kesha last year. She accused him of raping, drugging and emotionally abusing her, something he vehemently denied. 

And now insiders have revealed that Katy, 39, has been left devastated by the negativity, so much so that she’s ready to quit her 16-year long music career.

‘Katy feels like she’s breaking up with her pop career – it’s heartbreaking. She’s been struggling to get through the days, crying onstage and trying to block out all the negativity. She can’t believe how vicious some of the critics and former fans have been online. She’s always known you need a thick skin in showbusiness, but this is taking it to another level,’ a source tells Closer.

‘Katy has always been very hands on with her career, operating her own Twitter account and engaging with fans, but now she has to get other people to do it because there’s so much vile abuse and hatred towards her which feel completely unwarranted. She doesn’t feel like she can put a foot right at the moment, but she’s also not going to allow herself to be a punchbag or a punchline.’

Our source says that Katy has turned to her fiancé Orlando Bloom – who she’s been engaged to since February 2019 and shares four-year-old daughter Daisy Dove with – for support, and has even been asking the actor for some career advice.

They continue, ‘She can only take so many knocks and feels her pop career might not be worth it, so she’s really been leaning on Orlando throughout this ordeal. She wants his support and advice and he’s been vowing to stay by her side no matter what. 

‘She wants to bend his ear about acting because it’s something she feels she has never really put her full attention to and would rather play someone else than the character of Katy Perry right now – as everyone seems to be against her and it’s not fair. Once her obligations to tour and promote the album are over, Katy has said she wants to completely disappear from the limelight for a bit to regroup and think about a rebrand. She feels the music and pop world is completely toxic and wants to break up with it.’

The insider adds, ‘She knows she’s been accused of being anti-feminist by working with Dr Luke and feels the need to just run away from the industry. If she does make music again, she’s even thought about putting something out under her real name Katheryn Hudson and doing something stripped back and acoustic and starting from scratch.’ 

Opening up about the release of 143 – which represents the expression ‘I love you’ and is what Katy considers to be her symbolic ‘angel number’ – she said, ‘I set out to create a bold, exuberant, celebratory dance-pop album with the symbolic 143 numerical expression of love as a throughline message.’

And speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, she also discussed working with Dr Luke, who produced 10 out of the 11 songs on the album. ‘I understand that [working with him] started a lot of conversations, and he was one of many collaborators that I collaborated with. But the reality is, it comes from me,’ she said. ‘The truth is, I wrote these songs from my experience of my whole life going through this metamorphosis, and he was one of the people to help facilitate all that. One of the writers, one of the producers. I am speaking from my own experience.’

She added, ‘When I speak about Woman’s World, I speak about feeling so empowered now, as a mother, as a woman … I created all of this with several different collaborators, people that I’ve collaborated with from the past, from Teenage Dream era. All of that.’

Katy first burst onto the music scene in 2008 aged 23 with her single, I Kissed a Girl, and went on to release hits like Firework, Roar and Dark Horse. Her albums including Teenage Dream and Prism have sold millions of copies worldwide, and her music videos and concert tours are known for their elaborate productions.

While she’s one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 143 million units worldwide, her last album Smile – which she released in 2020, two days after giving birth to her daughter – received mixed reviews and sold just over 60,000 copies.

As well as being a judge on American Idol, the star has also dipped her toes into other work projects, including acting. She voiced Smurfette in the 2011 Smurfs movie and made a cameo in Get Him to the Greek alongside ex-husband Russell Brand in 2010.

And now, our source reiterates that she’s seriously considering a career change and is considering going down the acting route again.

‘She would love to pivot to acting with the help of Orlando,’ they say. ‘She has proven her comic timing in her music video and she wants to give acting a proper go. Right now, it feels like the universe is pulling her away from the pain of her pop career, and making her decide on a new career, with the help of Orlando by her side. She’s told him she can’t do it alone and needs him now more than ever.’