At this year's MTV Video Music Awards, Katy Perry received the Video Vanguard award, which is MTV's equivalent of a lifetime achievement prize, after performing a career-spanning medley of hits including I Kissed A Girl, Dark Horse and Firework.
After her performance, she accepted her award from her fiancé, Orlando Bloom, and joked, 'Oh my gosh. I did that all on my first day of my period, too. Can you believe it?'
The 'Woman's World' singer went on to say, 'Thank you to Orlando for keeping me grounded, celebrated, and doing the dishes. And lastly for my Daisy, the only flowers I’ll ever need.
'I’m excited when I look around music today, and I see all the amazing young artists who are operating with confidence, agency, vulnerability and authenticity. I’ve heard a lot of “Do this, don’t say that, wear less, wear more now. Hey, don’t cut your hair.” One of the biggest reasons I’m standing here right now is I learned how to block out all the noise that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against, especially women. I just wanna say with my whole heart, do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself and true to your art.'
Her performance was an impressive feat, which, let's be honest, most of us probably couldn't pull off whether we were menstruating or not. But Katy mentioning that she was on her period in her speech should be as standard as her saying she's got a cold. Unsurprisingly, however, it seems to have caused a stir on the internet.
While many people praised the singer, 39, for being 'so real', 'such a mood' and 'the best part of the VMAs', with several fans joking that they've unwittingly 'synced up' with Katy Perry, others have predictably asked 'why did Katy Perry felt the need to tell us she was on her period tonight?'
One X user wrote, 'katy perry we did not need to know you’re on your period' and another posted, 'Katy Perry just sucks. Period.'
Meanwhile, Entertainment Tonight shared a picture of the singer alongside the period quote on Instagram, which prompted another wave of indignation. One person commented, 'She said it twice though so she really wanted us to know...', another wrote 'TMI', and a third commented, particularly pointedly, 'I thought she was too old that time had past so I guess it is an accomplishment.'
Despite women kicking around since the dawn of time, and periods being an essential part of the future of humankind, hearing the word mentioned still seems to rub some people up the wrong way, so good on Katy for talking about it. We clearly need more high-profile people like Katy to casually drop it into conversations for it to be normalised.
The reaction says a lot about our lack of acceptance when it comes to acknowledging basic female bodily functions if that quote could remotely offend anyone. And it doesn't bode well that online trolls think it's ok to comment on Katy's age and feign shock that she still gets periods. Fortunately, in this instance, online support from women who respect her for being honest and relatable drowns out the outrage.
Let's be honest, the first day of your period can be challenging, emotional and unpredictable. The fact she spent 10 minutes of hers on stage at the VMAs, live on air, in a series of different nude skirts and pants, being lassoed around the stadium on a harness, is undeniably impressive. Coveted life time achievement award aside, let's give credit where credit is due.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, covering TV, celebrity interviews, news and features.