Katy Perry has seemingly savaged her former fiancé Orlando Bloom in her latest single, revealing a great deal about the real reason behind the A-list pairing's break-up earlier this year.
At least, that's what the popstar's fans are saying.
On Thursday (November 6), the 'I Kissed a Girl' singer dropped the music video for her first new track since publicly confirming the split in June - and the meaning behind the lyrics and imagery is anything but subtle.
Her latest song 'Bandaids' signals a new era for Perry's music and personal life, starting with Perry explaining 'hand to God, I promise I tried'.
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While in the video, she drops her engagement ring down a drain while washing the dishes, leading one fan to say: "She really coming for orlando bloom this time."
Revealing more about the internal psychodrama of her nine-year relationship with Bloom, she then says 'It’s not what you did, it’s what you didn’t / You were there but you weren’t'.
It also becomes clear in 'Bandaids' that Perry is not looking to get back together with the 48-year-old actor, with the singer saying: "Got so used to you letting me down / No use tryna send flowers now."
Bloom and Perry, 41, first started seeing each other after getting flirty at a Golden Globes party in 2016. Their romance quickly deepened with the singer meeting Bloom's young son and, a few short months later, Perry made it Instagram official.
However, just a year later, their relationship appeared to be on the rocks, with fans speculating about a split after Perry posted on X: "U can still b friends & love ur former partners."
But their stormy passion would see their relationship restored less than a year later, with the pair spotted holidaying together before Perry confirmed the recoupling in public.
Then, in 2019, the A-list duo announced their engagement.
But following the ensuing difficult years of the Covid-19 pandemic, their impending marriage appeared to be no closer, and the couple seemed to have moved further apart, with Bloom attending Jeff Bezos' glitzy Venice wedding alone, while Perry toured Australia.
In her new track, the singer reveals to the public that there will be no going back this time, explaining the meaning behind the song's title, saying: "Telling myself you'll change, you don't / Band-Aids over a broken heart."
And yet, Perry still shows a belief in the authenticity of their romantic entanglement, singing in a clear reference to Bloom: "On the bright side, we had good times / Never faked our pictures/We were perfect 'til we weren't / Now we've got too many splinters."
But there is also an unmistakable fury underlining the lyrics, with the video interposing images of Perry being hurt in dramatic domestic circumstances, with her saying: "It's not that complicated / To ask me how my day is / I'm flatlining trying to save this / Bleeding out, bleeding out, bleeding out slow."
With the former couple sharing a five-year-old daughter, Daisy Dove, Perry says she would still do it all over again despite the heartache, adding that 'The love that we made was worth it in the end'.
The tell-all nature of 'Bandaids' left the pop star's fans stunned and in little doubt over who the song was about, with one saying: "10/10 no notes!!!! Just listed to Katy’s New Song #Bandaids and it hit so hard.
"'Bandaids over a broken heart' literally how I feel!!!! It’s obviously about her split from Orlando Bloom."
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom's representatives have been approached for comment.
Topics: Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Sex and Relationships, Music
William Morgan