Anna Kendrick has revisited a night out that’s resurfaced online as Katy Perry remains the subject of intense public discussion.
The Pitch Perfect actor originally recounted the story during a 2014 appearance on Conan O’Brien’s late-night show, Conan, when she described crossing paths with the pop star around the Grammys.
Back then, Kendrick presented it as a strange-but-funny celebrity moment and treated it as part of an offbeat evening. In recent days, however, the clip has circulated again amid sexual assault allegations made by Ruby Rose — allegations that Perry’s representatives have strongly denied.
A spokesperson for the singer has called the claims ‘dangerous reckless lies’ and maintained they are ‘categorically false’.
During the 2014 interview — still available via the Team Coco YouTube channel — Kendrick told the audience: “Katy Perry finger-banged my cleavage. It was a weird night,” which drew laughter from the crowd.
As O’Brien reacted in surprise, Kendrick added: “She’s very mature.”
Kendrick characterized the encounter as unexpected, but suggested she wasn’t upset by it. Pressed for more detail, she continued to joke about the situation and implied her outfit at the time made it seem like she was “kind of asking for it”.
She went on to say: “If nobody had done it, I would’ve been a little sad.”
When the host asked her to describe what happened, Kendrick continued in a playful tone while filling in the context.
She also remarked: “I have met her before, and she’s like … she’s aggressive. I like it.”
Ruby Rose’s allegations are far more serious. The Orange is the New Black and Batwoman star has accused Perry of sexually assaulting her close to 20 years ago at Spice Market nightclub in Melbourne, Australia. In a social media post, Rose wrote: “Katy Perry sexual assaulted me at spice market nightclub in Melbourne. Who gives a [damn] what she thinks.”
Rose later expanded on her account with another graphic allegation, writing: “She saw me ‘resting’ on my best friends [sic] lap to avoid her and bent down, pulled her underwear to the side and rubbed her disgusting vagina on my face until my eyes snapped open and I projectile vomited on her.”
In a further post, Rose said: “I was only in my early 20s. I’m now 40. It has taken almost 2 decades to say this publicly.
“Though I am so grateful to have made it long enough to find my voice, it just shows how much of an impact trauma and sexual assault takes. Thank you for seeing me.”
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org