Katy Perry felt 'battered and bruised' by backlash

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Singer Katy Perry has admitted feeling "battered and bruised" by the backlash following her recent space trip, but reassured fans she is OK as would "keep looking to the light".

Writing two weeks after the much-derided Blue Origin voyage, which saw her take an 11-minute flight with five other women, the US star said the "online world" had tried to make her a "human Piñata".

Her comments came after fans paid for a billboard in New York to show their support for her ahead of her world tour.

Responding to a fan account that posted a video of the billboard, Perry said she was "so grateful" for her fans, adding they were "in this beautiful and wild journey together".

Perry has been one of pop's most successful singers over the past two decades, but the narrative around her has become more negative in the past year.

A poorly received album was accompanied by a lead single, Woman's World, which had a music video which many viewed as regressive.

She was then criticised for her part in Jeff Bezos's all-female Blue Origin space flight, during which she sung Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World to her fellow passengers, and held up the setlist for her new tour to an in-flight camera.

Some commentators said it was "tone deaf" for celebrities to be taking part in such a fleeting and expensive trip at a time of economic struggle.

However, singer Lily Allen apologised this week for "being mean" about Perry, saying that although she disagreed with the flight, there was no need to join the "pile on" against the singer.

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Some fans showed their support for Perry by clubbing together to pay for a digital billboard message in New York's Times Square for 24 hours.

A Brazillian fan account on Instagram explained fans had done it to "remind her that she is never alone; our love for her is boundless, unwavering, and eternal".

"We're so proud of you and your magical journey and we love you to the moon and back.

"Know that you are safe, seen and celebrated. We'll see you around the world, this is just the beginning."

Perry left a comment expressing her gratitude, telling fans: "I love you guys and have grown up together with you and am so excited to see you all over the world this year!

"Please know I am OK, I have done a lot work around knowing who I am, what is real and what is important to me."

She said she is "not perfect", but rather on a "human journey playing the game of life with an audience of many and sometimes I fall".

"But I get back up and go on and continue to play the game and somehow through my battered and bruised adventure I keep looking to the light and in that light a new level unlocks."

She added: "When the 'online' world tries to make me a human Piñata, I take it with grace and send them love, cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed."

The singer, whose hits include Roar, Firework and I Kissed A Girl, has just started a world tour, which will run until December and visit the US, Canada, South America, Canada, Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

Perry said she was looking forward to "seeing your faces every night, singing in unison, reading your notes, feeling your warmth".