Katy Perry Being Investigated for Potentially Damaging Sand Dunes

Poor old Katie Perry is having a rough old time of it lately. After her single “Woman’s World” was released on July 11, 2024 – a track that was widely expected to be her big “comeback” song after years of being out of the limelight – the singer has been inundated with criticism of her music’s message, aesthetics, and sound. The song debuted at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100, and even only hit No. 43 in the U.K. charts. That’s shockingly low given how some of her previous hits spent weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. 

Now, Perry is being investigated by the Ibiza Environmental Department after filming on the island’s sand dunes while she recorded the music video for the song “Lifetimes.”

Womp womp. 

A report from The Wrap published on August 13 describes how Balearic Island environmental authorities are targeting Perry and her production team for reportingly filming without first getting proper authorization from the Department for Film.

A statement from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Medicine described in a press release that there is an ongoing “environmental infringement” case against Perry and her team. The statement specified, however, that no crime against the environment was committed as it is technically legal for production crews and photographers to take photographs and videos of the beaches as long as they first seek the appropriate permissions. 

The news comes shortly after Perry released the music video for her new track, which shows the pop star and her friends partying on sand dunes and cliffs on the island of Ibiza, a legendary Spanish report frequented by partygoers for decades. 

While the statement argued Perry is not believed to have committed a crime against the environment, the Ibiza government simultaneously suggested that the production crew may have filmed in a restricted area. Specifically, the team is accused of having potentially filmed on the S’Espalmador dunes, which is a restricted part of the Ses Salines Natural Park. The dunes are protected because of their “great ecological value” and they can only be accessed by traveling to an uninhabited island by boat.