Katy Perry kisses American Idol contestant - but he wasn't happy

"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."

A 19-year-old man who was kissed by Katy Perry on American Idol says he felt "uncomfortable" - because he wanted his first kiss to be "special".

In an episode which aired at the weekend, Benjamin Glaze was asked, "have you kissed a girl and liked it?" by fellow judge Luke Ryan, a reference to Perry's song "I Kissed A Girl".

When Glaze, a cashier from Oklahoma, responded, "I have never been in a relationship and I can’t kiss a girl without being in a relationship.” Perry leapt from her seat, and said, "come here right now."

First, she faced her cheek towards him and he kissed it, but after requesting a second kiss on the cheek, she swung her face towards him as he approached and kissed him quickly on the lips.

He stumbled backwards, clearly shocked, and said, "you didn't!" - while Perry put her arms in the air.

But the seemingly innocent exchange was upsetting for Glaze, now 20, who revealed in an interview with The New York Times, that it was the first kiss he ever had.

Glaze says he never consented to the kiss, and said he would have declined had Perry asked him first.

“I wanted to save it for my first relationship," he explained. "I wanted it to be special."

He continued, "Would I have done it if she said, ‘Would you kiss me?’ No, I would have said no."

Glaze said he didn't feel sexually harassed by Perry in the previously-recorded audition, but he added, "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," Glaze concluded.

On Thursday, he slightly backpedalled on his comments to the media, writing on Instagram, "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 honoured and thankful to have been apart of American Idol.”

But he continued to say that he was "uncomfortable" because he "was not expecting" the kiss.

 

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

Regardless, the kiss fuelled a huge amount of backlash on social media - with many saying it would have been outrageous if the gender roles were reversed.

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

Ok, let’s be real for a minute: If Katy Perry was a man and that American Idol kiss happened to a woman, it would be sexual harassment, right? If we want people to listen to legit claims of harassment by women, we need to end the double standards. My 2 cents.

— Anna Baglione (@AnnaBaglione) March 12, 2018

Glaze unfortunately didn't make the cut to the next round, but hopefully he gets a second chance at a first kiss soon.