Katy Perry Admits She's Been Appropriating Black and Japanese Culture

Beauty, Fashion, Costume, Kimono, Performance, Fashion design, Taiwanese opera, Model, Formal wear, Fashion accessory, — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Katy Perry raised some eyebrows when she dressed up as a geisha during the 2013 American Music Awards, and raised even more eyebrows thanks to the way she wore her hair in the "This Is How We Do" video. And now, the pop star is owning up.

In an interview with Pod Save the People's DeRay Mckesson, Perry said she's "made several mistakes" and has had some hard conversations with friends about them.

"I listened, and I heard, and I didn't know," Perry said. "And I won't ever understand some of those things because of who I am. I will never understand, but I can educate myself, and that's what I'm trying to do along the way...Even in my intention to appreciate Japanese culture, I did it wrong with a performance. And I didn't know that I did it wrong until I heard people saying I did it wrong. And, sometimes that's what it takes—is it takes someone to say, out of compassion and out of love, 'Hey, this is where the origin is...do you understand?' And not just a clap-back, because it's hard to hear those clap-backs sometimes, and your ego wants to turn from them."