Katy Perry responds to Spanish environmental investigation into ‘unauthorized’ music video

Singer’s label says that a local production company ‘assured us that all necessary permits for the video were secured’

Katy Perry’s record label has responded to reports that the singer is under investigation in Spain over her new music video for “Lifetimes”.

The pop star, 39, released the Balearic Islands-set video last Thursday (August 8), which sees her spending her day at the beach before heading to a club in Ibiza.

However, some beach sequences were filmed at the dunes of S’Espalmador on the nearby island of Formentera, which is a protected area of natural beauty.

In a statement, the Balearic Islands’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment said that the production company responsible for the video had failed to request “authorization from the Regional Ministry to carry out the filming.”

“That is why preliminary investigation actions have been initiated,” it added. However, it went on to clarify that they do not consider Perry’s actions a “crime against the environment” but rather an infringement as general photography and filming “can be authorized” in the area.

In response, a label spokesperson for Capitol Records told The Independent: “The local video production company assured us that all necessary permits for the video were secured.

Katy Perry in Beverly Hills in April 2024 (Getty Images)

“We have since learned that one permit was in process, although we were given verbal authority to go ahead. Our local crew on July 22 applied for a permit for this specific location with the Directorate-General For Coasts And Coastline.

“Our crew received verbal approval on July 26 to proceed with the filming on July 27. We adhered to all regulations associated with filming in this area and have the utmost respect for this location and the officials tasked with protecting it.”

“Lifetimes” is the second single from Perry’s upcoming seventh album 143, which is set to be released on September 20.

The first single, “Woman’s World,” was met with a mixed critical reaction. It debuted at No 63 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, signalling a lukewarm start to the pop star’s highly anticipated comeback. In the UK, it opened at No 43.

Writing for The Independent, Adam White argued that Perry only has herself to blame for her troubled comeback.

“Katy Perry’s new single is a depressingly retrograde racket, a faux-feminist pastiche paying tribute to the ‘feminine divine’,” opined White.

“Titled ‘Woman’s World’, it would have been mortifying enough in its natural habitat of a Hillary-for-president fundraiser in 2016. But now, in 2024, it sounds little more than alarmingly antiquated.

“With its Rosie the Riveter visuals and dreary lyrics about sisters, mothers and sexy confidence, the track also marks Perry’s return to music following two poorly received albums and several years manning the judge’s desk on American Idol, a show that rivals only Tony Blair and the mice in my kitchen cabinets in its refusal to go away.”