Space Cadet: Katy Perry's residency at Resorts World lost millions, and now she's not invited back
In the 2000s, Katy Perry could do no wrong. She was young (early-mid 20s), attractive, and produced catchy, non-controversial songs. Even her bisexual-themed "I Kissed a Girl" was tame, even stating she did it "just to try it", and that it meant nothing.
In 2008, at the age of just 23, she released "Waking Up in Vegas", with an entertaining video featuring a parade down Fremont, kicking Penn & Teller out of their room, and a huge gambling run-up at the Palms, concluding with chunking it all back off and attempting to start over at a laundromat slot machine with a single quarter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-pUaogoX5o
At the time Perry didn't take herself seriously and instead opted for relatability. Even in the video above, her love interest was a skinny, dorky, everyman type, rather than a male model or celebrity.
However, as the 2010s wore on, Perry started to get infected by Hollywood elitism. She started acting strangely, wearing bizarre clothes on the red carpet and in public, and eventually speaking out politically. She drew some people's ire in November 2024, after an anti-Trump rant at one of her concerts two days before the election seemed to motivate Hollywood-fatigued flyover state voters to show up and vote Trump. Many of Kamala's supporters feared that this could further cast Kamala as the candidate of the Hollywood elite, and indeed, Kamala lost the election. This, of course, wasn't Perry's fault -- Kamala was a horrible candidate. However, it showed how Katy Perry's endorsement was seen by Kamala's own supporters as a net negative, rather than a positive.
Even more recently, Perry's journey with other female celebrities to "space" (actually to the edge of space) was met with derision, and seen as an obnoxious, privileged publicity stunt. Katy's kissing the ground upon landing was also mocked widely.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/b...1d5f751d2f.jpg
Katy Perry is now 40, and she's in that zone where her act has worn thin with a lot of people. She's not young enough to appeal to today's Gen Z, but also not old enough to be a draw for Gen X and older. Katy has to count on fellow millennials for relevance, but it seems like everyone is just done with her. Her "143" album last year flopped badly, and her recent tour had poor ticket sales, somewhat attributed to a backlash to her "space" flight.
But what about Resorts World?
This is a new story about an old situation. Perry had a residency at Resorts World spanning from 2021-2023, and it was called PLAY. At the time, it was reviewed fairly well, as Perry sung all of her hits, and wore lots of outrageous costumes to keep fans entertained. Unlike other ill-fated Vegas shows, this one seemed to satisfy audiences. That's why there was little discussion of it when the residency quietly ended in 2023 as planned, and Reosrt World stated they'd like to have her back.
However, it was just revealed on NewsNation -- and then picked up by other outlets like Yahoo and NY Post -- that Resorts World has cancelled these plans, partially due to Perry's first residency losing money! The reason? Ticket sales weren't terrible, but they foolishly paid her $750k-$900k per show, due to a bidding war with Caesars. In order to justify that salary, each show needed to be a sellout, and it just wasn't happening. Some of this might have been Resorts World's fault, as they've struggled to attract the foot traffic they need to be profitable, and made various other missteps along the way.
Apparently the backlash to the space flight was the final straw, and Resorts World decided not to take another chance with her. Prior to that, they were in discussions for a second residency, where she would be paid less, or where her compensation would be tied to the show's attendance. Now they just don't want her at all, as her popularity and reputation have taken a hit in the past 18 months.
