Katy Perry Sex Assault Claims Explode Into Investigation

Australian authorities have reportedly. announced they're investigating pop star. Katy Perry regarding a sexual assault. claim made by actress Ruby Rose. We're. getting into the allegations, the. potential investigation, the potential. charge, what we can expect next, who. would be interviewed, and we're going to. break it down with someone who is now. familiar with how Australian. investigations work. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. Pretty incredible celebrity accusation.

is now making the headlines. Actress. Ruby Rose has accused pop singer Katy. Perry of sexual assault at a nightclub. in Australia about 20 years ago. This is. big news. And what has really made this. big news is this is now reportedly. prompted an official police. investigation over there, which I want. to explore with an expert in a little. bit about how this might happen. But. what started this, right? So, Ruby Rose, who is best known for her films like. Resident Evil, John Wick, Pitch Perfect, The Meg, she took to Threads regarding.

Katy Perry. And it was regarding Katy. Perry reacting to Justin Bieber's. Coachella performance. And Ruby Rose. goes to Threads and reportedly writes, "Katy Perry sexually assaulted me at. Spice Market nightclub in Melbourne. Who. gives a bleep what she thinks?" Now, she. followed it up with, "I'm now 40. It has. taken almost two 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." Now, there's a. lot more that I'm going to get into. here, but there was a representative for. Katy Perry fired back in a statement. saying the allegations being circulated. on social media by Ruby Rose about Katy. Perry are not only categorically false, they are dangerous, reckless lies. Ms. Rose has a well-documented history of. making serious public allegations on. social media against various. individuals, claims that have repeatedly. been denied by those named. Now, I don't.

believe that was in direct reference to. something specific, but to provide a. little bit of context here, it was a few. years ago when Ruby Rose left the CW's. Batwoman show and would make allegations. of a hostile work environment and. misconduct targeted producers and. executives, which by the way Warner. Brothers responded at the time saying. this was a form of quote revisionist. history. Claim that she was let go, that. she was fired from this project quote. based on multiple complaints about. workplace behavior. But I want to go.

back to Ruby Rose and Katy Perry. So, in. another post, Rose alleged that Perry. quote saw me resting on my best friend's. lap to avoid her and bent down, pulled. her underwear to the side and rubbed her. disgusting. let's just say private parts on my face. until my eyes snapped open and I. projectile vomited on her. Very. descriptive, very specific, okay. Now, Rose also posted that quote as a woman. for a myriad of reasons opening up about.

W on W, women on women, violence and. sexual abuse seems to be 100 times. harder than speaking about the male. predators, at least for me. And then. there was a major update. Rose posted on. Threads, "Today I will be walking into a. police station to see if any of my. experiences can be investigated. I. imagine they are past their statute of. limitations, but all the more reason to. try. What is interesting is that she had. previously posted that she wasn't. interested in reporting this to police. Actually, she apparently posted that.

Perry quote is more than welcome to sue. me. She won't because it happened. I. have photos and it was literally in. public and witnessed by multiple. people." By the way, legal point of view. here, that's right. Katy Perry could. technically sue Ruby Rose for something. like defamation because of these, I. would imagine she would argue alleged. false public statements made on social. media. If Rose had filed a lawsuit. making these claims, she probably. wouldn't be able to be sued for. defamation because generally speaking,

if you make claims in a lawsuit, you're. shielded from defamation suits, right? Makes sense. If anybody could just turn. around and file defamation suits against. you for filing a lawsuit, it would chill. litigation. It would chill anyone from. going to the courts, and that wouldn't. make sense. But, for the public comments. that Ruby Rose is making against Katy. Perry, yes, is there potential legal. liability? Sure. I'm not saying Katy. Perry is going to file a lawsuit against. Ruby Rose, but just something to think. about. All right, real quick, this is. for you cat owners out there. Who.

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online, quote, "Hi. Last update on this. As of this afternoon, I have finalized. all of my reports. This means I am no. longer able to comment, repost, or talk. publicly about any of those cases or the. individuals involved. It's going to look. like 1:00 a.m. ignoring everything from. supportive messages to other people's. experiences, but I'm not. This is a. standard request from the police and in. many ways quite the relief. I can start. the healing process now and temporary. move forward. I love you all so much.

And guess what? This is the big update. According to KTLA 5, quote, Melbourne's. Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse. Investigation Team detectives are. investigating a historical sexual. assault that occurred in Melbourne in. 2010. Police have been told the incident. occurred at a licensed premises in. Melbourne's CBD. As the investigation. remains ongoing, it would be. inappropriate to comment further at this. stage. Now, CBD stands for the Central.

Business District. And Perry herself, to. be clear, didn't address this claim. But, I will say around the same time on. April 14th, she reportedly posted on. Instagram on an Instagram story writing, "I love you." This was alongside an. image of her song By the Grace of God. This is from her 2013 album Prism. Take. that for what you will. But, I do have. to mention this. In an interview with. the Herald Sun, this is per reporting by. the Rolling Stone Australia, the.

reported ex-manager of the Melbourne. nightclub Spice Market, which has since. closed its doors, claimed that the night. of the incident that Rose is describing, he doesn't know of anything like that. happening. He claimed they came in. together. They were also with Katy's. hair and makeup girl and another guy who. was friends with Ruby. It was a security. nightmare because there were 600 people. there and Katy kept coming out and. dancing with everybody and going right. in the middle of the mosh pit. They were. in the Genie bottle, so that's. apparently the VIP room, and having. drinks and stuff, but were mainly in.

there doing their own thing. I wasn't. aware of any alleged assault or someone. vomiting. He claimed that Rose and Perry. were both, quote, drunk, but, quote, weren't paralytic or anything. Both had. way too much to drink. To avoid people. taking photos of them in a state, we. organized a car and driver to be waiting. outside the Collins Street entrance of. the hotel. We escorted them out the back. and up the fire exit and put them in the. car together. By the way, before we even. get into the investigation and what.

could come from this, I have to say. this. This is not the first time that. Ruby Rose has gone after Katy Perry. No, back in 2017, she reportedly criticized Perry's Swish. Swish song because it was seen at the. time as a possible Taylor Swift diss. track. And Rose reportedly wrote on. Twitter, "I just think with everything. going on in the world to go from. rebranding as a political activist only. to ditch it and go low is a bummer." One. more thing I got to call out. Certain. things have come into focus or have been.

getting this renewed attention since. this allegations these allegations from. Ruby Rose. Like actress Anna Kendrick. So, she joked on a 2014 appearance with. Conan O'Brien that Perry had. inappropriately touched her cleavage. during what she described as a weird. night. 2019, actor Josh Kloss who. apparently appeared in Perry's Teenage. Dream music video, accused her not only. of verbal abuse, but claimed that she. took his private part out at a party. without his consent. Georgian Russian.

television host Tina Kandelaki accused. Perry of inappropriately touching and. kissing her. 2018, while serving as a. judge on American Idol, Perry reportedly. kissed contestant Benjamin Glaze on the. lips, which he later said he didn't see. it as sexual harassment, but apparently. he did say that made him uncomfortable. Now, I want to understand what this. Australian investigation could look. like. Is there no statute of. limitations? Could Katy Perry be. interviewed? Could she be arrested? Who. else would be interviewed in connection. with this case? That's what I want to. break down. Okay, so now I want to bring.

in Mike King. Why do I want to bring in. Mike King? Well, aside from the fact. that he's a fantastic guest and retired. police commander and host of Profiling. Evil and author of Wolves in Sheep's. Clothing. He actually has a very. specific expertise when it comes to. Australian investigations. What do I. mean? So, he has this four-part. documentary in Australia that I believe. is dropping April 22nd. It's a serial. killer case. A series is big news over. there right now. So, Mike, thanks for. coming on. To give everybody some. perspective, you're familiar a little.

bit with how investigations happen in. Australia, right? >> Yeah, yes, Jesse. In fact, I had the. opportunity for probably 7 years to work. in throughout the entire country of. Australia and each of the individual. states. Came to know at least the at the. leadership level many of the the. commanders from each of those different. people, including I've I've sat in the. offices in the Vic Police Department. So, this is really kind of an. interesting case to me from a number of. perspectives. Not only the kind of.

differences between US law and. Australian law to the level I understand. it, but the way in which they. investigate things. >> Can you talk about that as before we get. into more specifics? Generally speaking, how is it different? How is an. Australian investigation different than. a investigation here in the States? >> Well, well, you know, I always look at. Australian police a little differently. anyway because they they are so much. better, in my opinion, at handling. conflict resolution and other things. because they have to learn how to to.

chat with people and really try to. control them in less lethal means. Now, this case has nothing to do with less. lethal. >> Sure. >> other than it's an entirely different. mindset. Uh the laws, I think, are. similar in nature other than they fall. under the Queen's rules in many cases. And so, it's a little different. It's. hard to understand for me at times. But. when you get down to the core legal. aspects, especially in a case like this, sexual assault, regardless of whether. you're in Australia or in the United. States or anywhere else, is still sexual.

assault. And they have statutes. They. might they might name them differently. than what we would look at this case and. potentially try to categorize it as. >> All right. So, with that kind of. background, it feels like a big deal for. the Victoria Police Department to make. this statement. I'm going to read it one. more time. Melbourne Sexual Offenses and. Child Abuse Investigation Team. detectives are investigating a. historical sexual assault that occurred. in Melbourne in 2010. Police have been. told the incident occurred at a licensed.

premises in Melbourne CBD. As the. investigation remains ongoing, it would. be inappropriate to comment further at. this stage. Now, they don't mention. specifically Ruby Rose. They don't. mention specifically Katy Perry, but. everybody's putting two and two. together. The fact that they are. announcing an investigation here and. kind of have a unit that is dedicated to. historical claims of sexual assault. Are. you familiar with this unit or or. generally speaking the fact that they've. have announced this feels like a big.

deal. >> Yeah, and and to me actually, Jesse, when I look at it, the Aussies are pros. at getting in front of the media and. then shutting everything down. They they. don't they don't share information. They. don't say this is where we are. It's a. lot different than this here. Although, they're very quick to get out in front, acknowledge, even accept some facts in. cases, but not share what's happening in. the ongoing investigation. Yeah, I mean, even I. you mentioned this documentary that's.

coming and some discoveries that we made. in cold cases. They took the. information, but then the wall comes up. and and there's no sharing of. information. It's also kind of interesting because. just the way that the Australians speak. is so foreign to many of us in the. United States, even though we certainly. understand what they're saying, but the. words that they may use. And so, when. they're saying a historical case, for. us, we might be thinking, well, this is. breaking history. In reality, what. they're saying is, hey, this is a cold.

or an old case that we're bringing back. from history and looking at, and we have. an obligation, whether it's because of. the notoriety of the people involved or. just the fact that they really are. pretty forward-thinking when it comes to. sexual assault, that they're. investigating the crime or the. allegation, I should say. >> And by the way, I mean, you heard this a. little bit from Ruby Rose, but I did a. as best the research as I could on this, and I'm not an Australian lawyer. It.

doesn't appear that there's a statute of. limitations issue, that it could be. time-barred, that even if this happened. in 2010, there is potential criminal. liability here for Katy Perry, right? I. mean, unless you I'm looking at it the. wrong way. >> No, no, I would have to agree with you. on that, and and I again, I I um don't. understand their criminal code very. well, but if I remember right, back in. about 2007 or 2009, they made some adjustments to the.

criminal statutes that allowed reporting. no statute of limitations or no end of. the road when it comes to something that. that that goes on. Now, whether that. carries a lot of weight in moving. forward is going to be interesting. because. while they may say, yeah, we'll. certainly open the case, we'll look at. it, and we'll respond, that doesn't mean. they're going to be able to recover. evidence that far back or even rely on. witness testimony that far back, but it. opens the door. And I wonder if it just.

doesn't also make it a clear pathway for. somebody if they chose to go civilly in. this particular case rather than. criminally. >> Talk to me about what this investigation. looks like, because you hear Ruby Rose, just taking her word as true for a. moment, these are her allegations. She. claims she went to the police and told. her account. What is that interview like. and where do they go from there? >> Well, I think as an investigator you. have to take into account number one. delayed disclosures after sexual trauma.

is common and we we shouldn't just say. because it happened 15 or 20 years ago. and there's there's vacillating reports. on when this thing really happened. We. are now starting to narrow in on. testimony from for instance that Spice. Club of when that event but is that. actually the same episode? We don't know. for sure but you have to consider that. delayed disclosure is going to be. common. I think the second thing we have.

to think about is that. these things take time for people to. expose especially if it's a same-sex. sexual encounter. Sometimes that's a. little harder for people to talk about. than others. but clearly. you have to think okay, why did it come. up now and and you have to consider the. fact what was that interpersonal trigger. that event or event that happened that. caused Ruby Rose to say I'm ready now to.

do it whether it was just an immediate. knee-jerk hey, I'm going to socialize. that she assaulted me. or not. We don't know. I mean the. previous accounts say that she talks. about it as a funny drunk story but but. now it's a serious sexual assault. against her. and you have to think or is it possible. that this is just really a less. charitable approach. She's just flat. doing some score-settling or something. So for an investigator as you're putting.

together and trying to figure out what. evidence you have, you have to kind of. keep those things in mind too and none. of them mean that this is a truthful. story or that it's a false story. It. just means that you got to make sure. you're considering it all. >> I believe that this Spice Market, this. nightclub, I think it closed. I went on. their Instagram. and I think their final night was uh. January 1st, 2026, which makes me. wonder, how do they get all like do they.

go back and get all the footage from. like 2010? Is it still available? Different age, different time, feels. like yesterday, but also a different. time. How do they go about doing this? >> You know, there there's an old retired. Victorian police uh commander that was. on the Australian news talking about. this then and I I have to agree. Number. one, they're not going to recover any. CCTV coverage or video footage from the. the venue itself unless somebody, because of the notoriety of who was.

there, personally held on to that. I. just don't think there's going to be an. official record anywhere. But, in this. day and age where people are filming at. every turn with their mobile devices, there could be uh several pieces of. corroborating video that support this. story that the Vic police are going to. be looking at and taking into account. >> How do they even get that? How do they I. mean, it's a nightclub. How do you even. get witnesses, people who were there? Where do they even begin?

>> Well, I I would say that it begins with. the fact that it's Katy Perry and Ruby. Rose and that everybody is going to say, "Oh man, I remember collecting or. watching that or catching a video." And. they may choose to to weigh in. It could. also be that the the alleged victim in. this case reaches out to people that. she's talked to over the last 20 years. that say, "I remember that." And they're. willing to step forward and say, "Yeah, I talked." So, finding a witness even.

from 20 years ago may not be that. difficult, especially given the. notoriety of the individuals involved. >> What about the former manager's account? What do you make of that? Basically, again, say that they appeared to be. intoxicated, doesn't He never saw. anything or never was told anything or. reported anything that would suggest. what happened or you know, would support. Ruby Rose's claims. Doesn't mean it. didn't happen, but he's the former. manager. >> Uh I would have to say that he is more. reliable than many others because they.

don't have skin in the game from one. side or the other of this discussion. And I really think. >> about it. If somebody was allegedly. sexually assaulted in some way in the. club that he managed, I don't know. That. could be something to be thinking about. >> I think you make a really good argument. but that from a risk perspective he. might be saying, "Hey, everything was. just a bunch of drunks and nothing. happened." to reduce risk against the. company. I don't know that it could hit. him personally. And if your research is.

accurate and the company is out of. business, I guess I see that less likely. than the fact that this is probably just. an independent witness who sees drunk. behavior every single night and would. have probably remembered again based on. the notoriety whether it happened or. not. Uh. I think you make a really good argument. that I can't. >> He He does He does doesn't have to speak. to the press about it. And apparently.

this uh reported ex-manager did. So, that goes that's a point in your corner. I mean, in the idea he doesn't have skin. in the game. Why even say anything? He. could say, "I have no comment. I don't. remember it." or say anything, but he. was pretty specific. >> Yeah. And again, I think the dynamic is so. different because of the notoriety of. people. Some people might be willing to. take that risk because they think it. gives them that moment of fame in the in. the public spotlight, too. >> Let me ask you this. I talked about it. at the beginning. Some historical. context with respect to Ruby Rose and.

Katy Perry. So, Katy Perry's rep had. called out Ruby Rose for allegedly. making false statements and I mentioned. the back and forth that Ruby Rose had. with Warner Brothers at one point. I. talked about earlier how there were. these other claims from other people. like Anna Kendrick and others regarding. Katy Perry. How much do investigators. look at that and say, "Well, we're. taking this allegation from Ruby Rose. Let's look at other allegations that. she's made." Okay, we're looking at this. allegation against Katy Perry. Let's.

speak to other people who have made. allegations against her. I mean, do they. speak to Anna Kendrick? It's not even. related to Australia. She made this. comment on a 2014 appearance on Conan. O'Brien. How much do they look at all. that? >> If it were my case, I would absolutely. be looking at those kinds of things. You. know, I I went back and just did some. research on Katy Perry for instance. First big hit, I Kissed a Girl. Well, does that mean anything? Probably not, but in this context, could it be. interesting? Yeah. When you see.

allegations that are coming out of maybe. some pretty outrageous behavior in a. bunch of different places, you have to. take that into account. I remember going. through the early stages of learning. this art and science of profiling, a. former profiler sat down with me and he. said, "Just keep in mind this simple. thing. Past behavior is predictive of. future behavior." And so, you have to. take into account the repetitive kinds. of behavior that is getting a little. close to the sun in many cases. To.

answer your question, I would absolutely. want to interview every one of those and. ask, "Tell me exactly what you. remember.". >> What about interviewing Katy Perry? How. would that work? You know, do they. ask her to come to Australia? Do they do. an interview over Zoom? I mean, how. how does that work exactly? >> Well, number one, I don't think she will. agree to talk if they even do ask her, but uh. it you we might find on the flip side of. that that she is compelled to go and.

defend her name and she may hop on a. plane and go over and say I want to talk. to you right now and walk in with her. lawyer and sit down and do that. I don't. think this is the kind of case that you. could justify saying we want you to come. to Australia and spend 14 hours on a. plane to come over and do an interview. on this case. They'd do it in a Zoom or. something like we're doing. >> Would they ever come to the United. States? >> Very possible, especially if in fact.

they continue to get a bunch of pressure. from the from the community or from the. citizens and media and others and they. have people here that need to be. interviewed. They may say, "Hey, this is. worth putting one of our detectives on a. plane and flying them over and letting. them go and talk to people. face-to-face.". >> I want to be very clear. These are just. allegations at this point. Just. allegations that Katy Perry is facing. We don't know what supporting evidence. or corroborating evidence may exist or. not exist. But I have to as we're. talking about this and we're talking.

about this investigation seemingly being. launched. From what you know about. Australian criminal procedure, how does. an arrest and how does charging work. over there? >> It's very much like ours. I mean, they. would they would in this kind of a case, I would think just put out a document. and let the lawyer know and and say you. can come and surrender and be booked. I. don't know if they would allow her to be. digitally booked and then have to come. over for the actual criminal proceedings.

or not. But I think it's going to be. handled much like it would be handled. here. But we have to keep in mind. I. mean, here we probably would put someone. on a plane and extradite her back if she. didn't come on her own. >> Right. That's a good point. All right, Mike King, let's see where this goes. next. Thank you so much for taking the. time, sir. >> Thanks, Jesse. Great to see you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can also check us. out at NBC's Peacock as well. If you.

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