ABC/Mark LevineAfter the premiere of American Idol last week, some viewers were in an uproar over the fact that judge Katy Perry kissed contestant Ben Glaze on the lips after he said he’d never been smooched. Now, fellow judge Luke Bryan is defending Katy, saying she’s just trying to “make fun TV.”
Glaze told several media outlets that Katy’s kiss made him uncomfortable because he didn’t know her, and he was disappointed that his “first kiss” was the special moment he’d always dreamed it would be.
But when viewers began accusing Katy of harassment, Glaze, who didn’t make it through to Hollywood, took to Instagram to say, “I do not think I was sexually harassed by Katy Perry…I was uncomfortable in a sense of how I have never been kissed before and was not expecting it.”
While touring in Australia this week, Luke appeared on the Australian talk show The Morning Show and said he was surprised that the whole moment became such a big deal.
“It’s unfortunate that stuff like that turns into a story that big,” Luke told the interviewer. “I watched an actual interview where Ben, the kid that was involved, he said he was cool with everything. And I gotta back Katy on that, y’know? She’s in there working hard and making fun TV.”
“You know, we’re gonna get it right sometimes and we’re gonna get it wrong sometimes,” Luke continued. “We’re in there critiquing people and I may say something one day that everybody’s not gonna like. That’s just what you sign up for.”
But, Luke points out, “At the end of the day, me and Lionel [Richie] and Katy and Ryan [Seacrest]…our hearts are in the right place.”
American Idol continues this Sunday with the final round of auditions.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
