Josh Kloss, Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” co-star, said he carries with him “silent trauma” since the pop star exposed his penis at a party without consent nearly 14 years ago.
In his first and “last” interview since making the allegations publicly via Instagram in August 2019, Kloss exclusively told Page Six: “It’s hard to bring up something that seems so irrelevant to a lot of people.”
However, after actress Ruby Rose came forward with sexual assault allegations against Perry – allegations which the singer has vehemently denied – Kloss felt it was “important” to be “brave” and “show my face and explain myself”.
“The world can judge me, you know?” He added.
Kloss played Perry’s on-screen love interest in her music video for her hit song “Teenage Dream,” which was filmed in Santa Barbara, California, in July 2010. He said they “connected” on set.
Two years later, Kloss told us he was invited to the birthday party of Johnny Wojcik — Perry’s stylist for many years — at Moonlite Rollerway Rink in Glendale, California.
Kloss claimed that when he arrived with a friend, Perry – who was with a small group – enthusiastically greeted him outside the venue. While he was introducing his friend, Perry allegedly pulled his pants and underwear out, exposing his penis.
He lamented on Instagram at the time, saying: “Can you imagine how pathetic and embarrassed I feel?”
Kloss explained in our interview that he immediately “felt scared.” According to Kloss, Perry “just laughed.”
“That’s the main thing here. I want to make that clear. I want to get rid of the confusion because some people think that if you pull someone’s pants down at a party, you’re kidding them,” he said, claiming that’s not what he experienced.
Although “even if he had been wearing trousers it would have been completely insulting,” the actor and producer insisted there was “no rift” in his relationship with Perry, 41.
Page Six reviewed correspondence that appears to support Closs’s claims. However, when he first came forward, Wojcik responded online at the time of the alleged incident, saying: “This is bullshit. Katie would never do something like that.”
Meanwhile, her other friend, jewelry designer Marsha Molinari, described Kloss as an “obsessive” fan.
Kloss admitted to us that he may have had a crush on Perry at the time, which is why the alleged incident “confused” him.
“It’s kind of weird, isn’t it? When you’re in love with someone and then they reach out and grab you or do something to you, that can sometimes be considered — in my generation — as flirting, like coming over to you,” he said.
Admittedly, the father of one thought Perry was “really in love.”[d]him, but “his brain realized what it was” after “processing and digesting” the alleged situation.
Representatives for Perry, Wojcik and Molinari did not respond to Page Six’s repeated requests for comment on Kloss’s allegations.
As for why he came forward with his claims when he did, Kloss told us he reached his breaking point after years of fans telling him how “lucky” and “lucky” he was to be given such a prominent platform by a major celebrity.
“She, to whom I should be grateful, devalued me and degraded me to the highest level in front of her closest peers. Why should I be grateful for that?” Recalling his thinking, he insisted that his “intentions” were not to “punish” Perry but to “protect.” [his] private rationality.”
Kloss admitted that part of him thinks Perry may have responded privately or publicly by saying something along the lines of, “The past is the past. I made some mistakes, and I apologize. I’m better now.”
But she didn’t do that. In fact, I’ve only extensively addressed multiple allegations of unwanted touching August 2020 interview with The Guardian. (Days after Kloss came forward, Russian TV host Tina Kandelaki claimed Perry tried to kiss her at a party without her consent. The musician, who previously served as a judge on “American Idol,” also came under fire for “uncomfortably” kissing Season 16 contestant Benjamin Glaze on the lips after he stated he had never been kissed.)
“She became a little cropped for the first time when I asked her how she thought about those allegations,” the Guardian reporter noted at the time.
Perry responded to the investigation, saying: “I think we live in a world where anyone can say anything. I don’t want to say ‘guilty until proven innocent’, but there are no checks and balances: the title flies, doesn’t it? And there’s no investigation into what it is.”
She added that she had not commented before out of respect for the #MeToo movement, explaining: “I don’t want to add to the noise. I want to add to the truth, basically.”
When pressed further on whether the claims were true, Perry reportedly “exhaled” and said: “I don’t comment on all the things that are said about me because if I chase this dragon, it’s going to be about being honest and lying all my life. It’s a distraction from the real movement.”
As Page Six reported, Rose accused the singer of sexual assault earlier this month in a series of Threads posts, alleging that the incident occurred at a nightclub in Melbourne, Australia, when she was in her 20s.
“The allegations Ruby Rose is circulating on social media about Katy Perry are not only categorically false, they are dangerous and reckless lies,” Perry’s rep told Page Six of Rose’s claims.
“Ms. Rose has a well-documented history of making serious public allegations on social media against various individuals, allegations which the named individuals have repeatedly denied.”
Perry is currently being investigated by officials in Australia over the alleged incident.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.