About

Katy Perry Voting For Rick Caruso refers to a viral photograph of the pop artist Katy Perry voting for Democratic mayoral candidate Rick Caruso during the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election. Perry first inspired backlash for endorsing Caruso in June 2022 and reignited the backlash in November after voting for him, with some seeing it as hypocritical since Caruso used to be a pro-life conservative (though running on a pro-choice platform at the time). The photo of Perry voting also became an exploitable meme that month as people photoshopped the voting screen with various graphics.

History

Katy Perry Endorses Rick Caruso

On June 4th, 2022, Katy Perry made a post to Twitter^[1] endorsing Rick Caruso, writing, "RICK CARUSO FTW ❗️," garnering over 7,800 likes and 2,800 retweets in five months. On July 4th, she then tweeted,^[2] "'Baby you’re a firework' is a 10 but women in the US have fewer rights than an actual sparkler smh," supporting abortion rights, garnering over 139,000 likes in four months. Some people online called Perry hypocritical for the pro-abortion tweet after her endorsement of Caruso a month earlier, since Caruso used to be a registered Republican and has donated to anti-abortion causes in the past.^[3]

2022 LA Mayoral Election Voting Picture

On November 7th, 2022, Katy Perry posted a photo to Instagram^[4] where she gives a thumbs up and smile in front of a voting machine showing her vote for Rick Caruso, garnering over 295,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Online Reactions / Memes

People began sharing, memeing and reacting to the photograph that day as it spread online. For example, on November 7th, 2022, Twitter^[5] user @DeanRenaissance posted a photoshop of the image placing Peppa Pig on the screen, writing, "Katy Perry watching Peppa Pig with her adorable daughter Daisy Dove Bloom 🥺," garnering over 500 likes in two days (shown below, left).

About two hours later, Twitter^[6] user @KyleKashuv posted, "Katy Perry voting for Republican Rick Caruso for LA Mayor. This just shows you just how bad things have gotten. That a celebrity would not only vote R -- but then publicly post it is something else. You could say the energy is shifting," garnering over 78,000 likes and 8,400 retweets in two days (shown below, right).

Also on November 7th, The People's City Council of L.A. Twitter^[7] account, @PplsCityCouncil, tweeted the photo, writing, "Fuck Katy Perry," garnering over 14,000 likes in two days. On November 8th, Twitter^[8] user @WitnessQi posted the Peppa Pig photoshop claiming it to be real, garnering over 800 likes in a day. That same day, Twitter^[9] user @mattxiv tweeted Perry's original photo alongside @WitnessQi's tweet, writing, "katy perry posted herself voting for a republican today and her stans are scrambling," garnering over 262,000 likes and 11,000 retweets in a day (shown below).

That day on November 8th, Twitter^[10] user @deannagmcdonald then posted a list of celebrities that voted for Caruso vs. celebrities that voted for Karen Bass, garnering over 53,000 likes in a day. Shortly after, Twitter^[11] user @JoblessJaydn posted a photoshop that made it appear as if Perry voted for the EMA awards, garnering over 4,000 likes in a day (shown below, left). Twitter^[12] user @lissyeun posted another photoshop that day, making it seem as if Perry is reading Naruto: Sasuke's Story, garnering over 690 likes in a day (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References