AWKS: Katy Perry Cops Heat For Unwanted Kiss With An ‘American Idol’ Contestant

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So Katy Perry is settling quite nicely into her new gig as a judge on the American Idol reboot…even deciding to give a contestant his first kiss for a bit of on-screen entertainment.

Awks part is that the guy didn’t really want to kiss Katy. She kissed the boy and he didn’t like it.

Unfortunately what might have felt like a harmless stunt to Katy has made people, including the young boy, “uncomfortable”. Here’s what went down:

19-year-old Benjamin Glaze is introducing himself to the American Idol panel of judges, and he explains that the best part of his retail job is the opportunity to meet “cute girls”. Fair enough.

Perry’s fellow judge asks Glaze, “Have you kissed a girl and liked it?” (referring to Katy Perry’s iconic breakout track), and Glaze admits that he hasn’t because he’s, “never been in a relationship,” and that without being in one he “can’t kiss a girl.”

Then Katy Perry being Katy Perry, she calls him over for a kiss “on the cheek,” but turns her head to steal a cheeky kiss on the lips. Watch it below:

As it turns out though, Glaze was actually intentionally saving his first kiss for his first relationship because he comes from a conservative background.

Following the episode airing, the 20-year-old told The New York Times in an interview about the moment, that “I was a tad bit uncomfortable”.

“Would I have done it if she said, ‘Would you kiss me?’ No, I would have said no,” Glaze told the newspaper. “I know a lot of guys would be like, ‘Heck yeah!’ But for me, I was raised in a conservative family and I was uncomfortable immediately. I wanted my first kiss to be special.”

However, he assured the NYT that he doesn’t see the incident as sexual harassment and that after talking to friends “They agreed with me that it didn’t really count,” he said.

“It was lip contact versus a romantic situation with someone you care about. That’s what a real first kiss is.”

It’s all frankly awkward af.

Glaze added that he appreciates the added exposure he’s gotten from the ‘incident’.

“I’m glad she did it because it’s a great opportunity to get my music out.”

I guess there’s no such thing as bad publicity…right?

It’s difficult to know if Perry had any idea that the kid wasn’t just lacking the opportunity to kiss a girl, but actually saving the moment. But either way, there’s definitely a problem with being so nonchalant about something like that for the purpose of reality TV entertainment.

But I think we can all agree that the best part of this video is just Lionel Richie’s face as he watches yet another generic white boy with an acoustic guitar audition.

Pray for Lionel.