Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
Australian actress Ruby Rose alleged in a post online on Sunday night that American singer Katy Perry sexually assaulted her at a night club 20 years ago.
The Orange is The New Black star took to Instagram’s Threads app, writing that the alleged incident took place at Spice Market Night Club in Melbourne, “almost two decades ago.” Rose made the allegation in a comment responding to a post from Complex Music about Perry’s reaction to Canadian singer Justin Bieber’s headlining Coachella set that night.
“Katy Perry sexually assaulted me at spice market nightclub in Melbourne. Who gives a shit what she thinks,” she wrote.
A representative for Perry denied the accusation.
“The allegations being circulated on social media by Ruby Rose about Katy Perry are not only categorically false; they are dangerous, reckless lies,” they told CBC News in a statement.
“Ms. Rose has a well-documented history of making serious public allegations on social media against various individuals, claims that have repeatedly been denied by those named.”
CBC News has reached out to Rose’s representatives for comment but has not heard back yet.
Rose shares details in series of posts
In a series of posts, Rose, 40, said the alleged incident occurred when she was in her early 20s. She wrote that Perry “saw me ‘resting’ on my best friend’s lap to avoid her and bent down, pulled her underwear to the side and rubbed her disgusting vagina on my face until my eyes snapped open and I projectile vomited on her.”
Rose added in another comment that she has previously “told the story publicly but changed it to be a “funny little drunk story” because I didn’t know how else to handle it.” She alleged that Perry later agreed to help Rose get her U.S. visa, so she chose to keep it a secret.
She said it took her nearly two decades to share the allegation, and that she was “grateful to have made it long enough to find my voice.”
The actress initially said she wasn’t interested in filing a police report, explaining, “You don’t need people to believe you, you just need to get it out of your poor body before it gives you cancer.”
But Rose subsequently wrote on Threads that she had “just left the police station” and would elaborate on the reporting process “once I get my strength back.”
Perry was recently seen attending the Coachella music festival in California with her partner, former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
In a post on Instagram, the pop star included several photos of the pair along with a video reacting to Bieber’s headlining set, where he went through several of his old YouTube videos and sang along with his younger self.
“Thank god he has [YouTube] Premium. I don’t wanna see no ads,” she jokes in the video, which was highlighted in the post to which Rose initially responded.
