In a recent show on her Lifetimes tour, Katy Perry debuted a new verse for the song “E.T.,” replacing what was once a Kanye West verse. While some fans have celebrated the move, others have called it hypocritical. Here’s why some fans aren’t impressed by Perry’s decision to update the song.

Katy Perry updated ‘E.T.’ during a recent concert

After Perry released the song “E.T.,” West dropped a remix with additional verses. The single version of the song does not include West’s verses.

In a recent concert, Perry performed a version of the song with a new verse to replace West’s. A massive, computerized head raps the verse at the audience from the screen.

Some fans are calling Katy Perry a hypocrite for the new version of ‘E.T’

Perry might have updated the song to distance herself from West, who has recently gone on multiple hate-filled X (formerly Twitter) rants. Perry is in the midst of a storm of negative coverage and could have wanted to avoid more by dropping the West verse. 

While fans did not deny this was a good idea, they still weren’t all that impressed with the update. Some said it sounded like it was AI-generated, while others said it just didn’t sound good.

“Good for getting rid of Kanye, but the original song doesn’t have him on it and has that iconic bridge,” wrote a Reddit user. “This is not good or necessary.”

A number of people also called Perry a hypocrite for distancing herself from West while continuing to work with producer Dr. Luke. The singer Kesha accused him of drugging and raping her, and was involved in a lengthy legal battle with him.

“She’ll drop Kanye but won’t drop Luke?” wrote one person.

“She removed Kanye from a pre-existing song but created [new] music with …..you know what, nvm,” wrote another. “I love Katy but she has light Karen tendencies.”

Perry has defended her decision to continue working with Dr. Luke despite the allegations against him.

Others have supported the decision

Lately, it feels increasingly like Perry can’t win, but the updated song did please some of her fans. They pointed to her need to avoid the criticism West’s verse might have brought her.

“Seems like a rightful Ye cleanse of the song. She doesn’t need any more criticism rn, and only cutting out his verse without adding anything else would make the song sound like it was missing something imo.”

To many, it felt like a step in the right direction after a great deal of blunders.

“That might be the most politically aware choice she has made recently. It would be easy to have the Kanye West verse and no one would even say anything. Or even better, ET doesn’t need to have the rap verses, but to go as far as totally replacing his part with something else feels like a statement. (Or maybe it was just artistically convenient within the concept of the tour, but still works on her favor).”