Fans Distressed By Viral Video of Katy Perry’s Bizarre ‘Eye Glitch’

Getty Katy Perry arrives for the 2022 Met Gala

Katy Perry is known for her quirky concert sets, outfits, and props, but a new video shows an onstage hiccup that now takes the cake as her most attention-grabbing moment in recent memory. A fan video showing the pop superstar and “American Idol” judge trying to fix her twitching eyelid during a show has gone viral on social media. It’s sending fans — and a few conspiracy theorists — into a frenzy, debating over what they’ve actually witnessed.

Katy Perry Video Explodes on Social Media

Katy Perry’s biggest fans — who call themselves KatyCats — are used to seeing all sorts of odd things during Perry’s concerts, especially in the shows that are part of her PLAY residency in Las Vegas. Each show unfolds as a four-part fantasy, full of larger-than-life props, from a giant on-stage toilet to dancing mushrooms. But even the KatyCats seem confused by Perry’s bizarre eye movement during one of her recent shows.

In an audience video re-posted by many TikTok users, Perry can be seen staring out at the crowd with her left eye wide open while her right eyelid slowly droops closed. The singer, who turned 38 on October 25, 2022, nonchalantly touches her temple and her eyelid opens, only to then droop again. Almost as if she’s in a trance, she slowly touches her temple again, tapping it to open her eye.

Someone on Twitter wrote, “Why is Not EVERYONE talking about the @katyperry eye glitch malfunction!? Freaking bizarre. We want answers Katy.” 

It may not technically be everyone, but millions of people across social media platforms have viewed the video, with thousands weighing in with their theories about what’s going on with the singer, who just released a new music video with country star Thomas Rhett.

Some fans are worried Perry’s suffering from a health issue and that the eye malfunction is a sign of severe stress or Bell’s Palsy.

“Stress does that to your eye it really does hopes she gets some good rest,” one fan wrote.

Another faction of social media users — ranging from some who are joking to others who are dead serious — insist Perry’s had an adverse reaction to getting her COVID vaccines. Newsweek even issued a fact check on October 25 in response to the viral video, assuring people that the shots have not been scientifically shown to cause eye paralysis. Perry has acted as a UNICEF ambassador for vaccine distribution and she even dressed up as the vaccine for Halloween in 2021.

No fact-checking assessments, however, have been issued yet for other theories that have popped up online, including that Perry’s twitching eye is caused by demons in her body, and another common theory that the video doesn’t feature the actual Katy Perry at all, but of a robot clone of the singer.

One Twitter user summed up the debate by writing, “tiktok is having a field day with the katy perry eye glitch video…it’s literally her playing around- ‘omg she has been replaced’, ‘she’s a robot’ .. this generation might be one of the dumbest generations ever”

That user, and plenty of others, think that Perry is simply playing around. In her PLAY residency shows, which wrapped up on October 22, a four-part fantasy plays out with her pretending to be a living doll surrounded by a bigger-than-life world. So it’s very possible, as some fans have pointed out, that she mastered the eye trick to emulate a glitching baby doll whose eyes open and close.

Katy Perry Has Talked Before About Her ‘Wonk Eye’ & Other Physical ‘Tricks’

GettyLionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan attend on “American Idol.”

Another important point for fans to remember is that this is not new. Beyond all the theories about what caused Perry’s eye to “glitch” during her concert is the fact that she’s talked before about having issues with her eye.

In 2021, “Idol” contestant Caleb Kennedy revealed he wore his cowboy hat down low on his forehead to hide a lazy eye he’d had since birth, and Perry told the 17-year-old that she could relate.

“I have a wonk eye as well, and I used to be worried about it,” Perry said. “Then a bunch of my fans created a fandom over my wonk-eye. I even have a fandom that calls itself, ‘Katy’s wonk-eye.’ It’s my right eye. So just celebrate all that stuff. Don’t worry about it.”

Her ‘wonk eye’ is not the only unusual physical trait Perry’s got, though.

In 2018, during the first season she and her fellow judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie teamed up on “American Idol,” Perry revealed a “special talent” to them and one of the contestants.

“I have a crazy talent,” she said, and then added, “I wouldn’t even call it a talent.”

After pausing to consider whether she really wanted to divulge her secret, she blurted out, “I can look like a frog. It’s disgusting!”

The pop star then repeatedly made her throat bulge out, reminiscent of a bullfrog.

“Nobody’s gonna wanna make out with me,” she joked. “It’s horrible!”