Katy Perry Tricked 19-Year-Old ‘American Idol’ Contestant Into Kissing Her

“I wanted my first kiss to be special,” Benjamin Glaze told the New York Times.

Before performing the song “Levels” by Nick Jonas in front of the judges, Glaze confessed that he had never been kissed before. After hearing this, Perry called him over and asked for a kiss on the cheek. Unsatisfied with the first attempt, she requested that Glaze try again. When he leaned in for the second kiss, Perry turned her cheek and kissed him on the lips.

Glaze told the Times that the kiss made him uncomfortable, and that, had Perry directly asked to kiss him, he would have said no.

Fans took to Twitter to express their discomfort over the moment.

Imagine if a 33 year-old male artist tricked a 19 year-old female auditioner into a kiss like Katy Perry just did with that teenage guy. Would we all think it was cute? #AmericanIdol

— Craig M. Tiede (@craigmtd) March 12, 2018

Hi just a friendly reminder that Katy Perry kissing this young man without his consent (he was saving his first kiss AND she tricked him into it) is a violation and assault! Joking about it is enforcing rape culture that tells us that men can’t be sexually assaulted. pic.twitter.com/CyIe64Y5eO

— ava (@avanikki) March 15, 2018

Katy Perry posted a teasing GIF about the moment before the episode aired.

💋#BenjaminGlaze #AmericanIdol pic.twitter.com/0XbA18LmRr

— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) March 12, 2018

Glaze has since come to terms with the moment. To him, “It was a lip contact versus a romantic situation with someone you care about. That’s what a real first kiss is.” He went on to expalin more on Instagram.

Hi everyone, I would like to clear a few things up for anyone who is confused, concerned, or angry. I am not complaining about the kiss from Katy Perry at all, doing a few news reports and being interviewed by many different reporters has caused some major questions. The way certain articles are worded is not done by me, and my true intentions are not accurately represented in every article you read about the situation. I am not complaining about the kiss, I am very honored and thankful to have been apart of American Idol. The main purpose for the show is to find stars and new music artist. I do wish I would have performed better in the moment. I should have picked another song to sing and calmed myself down regardless of the kiss. I should have been able to perform under pressure. I do not think I was sexually harassed by Katy Perry and I am thankful for the judges comments and critiques. I was uncomfortable in a sense of how I have never been kissed before and was not expecting it. My main goal is to reach people through the universal love of music and not cause strife or anger against anyone or about any situation! Please take into consideration that I don’t believe my views have been appropriately communicated through the media! Thank you to everyone who has followed me in this journey and I hope I answered a few questions. . . . . . #americanidol #katyperry #music

A post shared by Ben Issac Glaze (@benjaminglaze) on Mar 14, 2018 at 2:32pm PDT

Check out the full clip here.