Katy Perry Suffered From Depression After Witness Flopped

Katy Perry's 2017 album Witness may have been commercially successful, but it didn't exactly receive the warmest critical response -- ok, it flopped. The album, which Perry repeatedly referred to as "purposeful pop," was largely panned by critics, and Perry has revealed that she took the response hard.

"I have had bouts of situational depression and my heart was broken last year because, unknowingly, I put so much validity in the reaction of the public, and the public didn't react in the way I had expected to ... which broke my heart," she told Vogue Australia. "Music is my first love and I think it was the universe saying: 'Okay, you speak all of this language about self-love and authenticity, but we are going to put you through another test and take away any kind of validating 'blankie.' Then we'll see how much you do truly love yourself.'"

Perry spent a week at a California mental-health retreat and came out stronger than before. "That brokenness, plus me opening up to a greater, higher power and reconnecting with divinity, gave me a wholeness I never had. It gave me a new foundation. It's not just a material foundation: it's a soul foundation."