‘American Idol’: Katy Perry Receives Apology From Contestant After Slammed Over ‘Rude’ Comments

“American Idol” contestant Nutsa Buzaladze has issued an apology to Katy Perry. Her apology arrived after the judge received backlash for her alleged “condescending” comments to Nutsa in an incident last week.

In the Sunday, April 9 episode of the long-running series, Nutsa publicly apologized to Katy. “Katy, I wanted to apologize because I felt very bad when you said to me, ‘More grace, more grace,’ ” she said, “And I wanted to like tell also my side of the story and I felt so bad I was, like, frozen.”

Nutsa added, “Then I didn’t want to bring negative energy, so that’s why I didn’t say nothing. I thought that because I didn’t speak up that I could not really speak because I did not want to cry onstage, but after I left the stage I was just like destroyed, so I wanted to apologize for this.”

After the apology, Katy immediately stood up to give Nutsa a hug. The “Firework” singer told her, “That is great. That’s so wonderful and Nutsa, what I meant by grace is that it’s OK to be determined and ambitious and edgy and strong but also with grace.”

She added, “I really relate to you because I know what’s like to be a strong woman… to want to be strong and to never break and feel like nothing can ever get to me but that’s not real. You’re a real person with a big heart and a big talent.”

Nutsa also took to her Instagram account to address the incident. In a lengthy post on Monday, the singer explained that she was exhausted from a long flight but hopes “that you will get to know me and my personality better.” She concluded her post by saying that making it to the top 24 was “the biggest thing that’s happened in my life.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqnYYt7jlEq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Nutsa’s post came after Katy criticized her during her performance with her duet partner, Carina DeAngelo. After Carina revealed that Nutsa had slept through a rehearsal, Katy told the pair that their performance was “underwhelming.” She said, “I just think the energy was broken between both of you, and so I think you couldn’t give each other the energy you both needed. That you both deserved. I think you’re both better than that performance.”

Upon watching the episode, viewers came for Katy. “Katy is so rude and condescending to the contestants unless it’s a male cutie then she acts like a teenage fool,” one person commented on Instagram. “Sooooo much drama! Ugh,” one other said, while someone else added, “Idk if I can keep watching. I want to…but idk.”