Claim falsely attributes Katy Perry’s odd eye movement to COVID-19 vaccine

A viral video of singer Katy Perry’s eye “glitching” was quickly attached to evidence-free claims that the singer was experiencing a side effect from a COVID-19 vaccine. This is not true. Let’s look at the facts.

Quick Look

No
The movement of Katy Perry’s eye in this video of her performing at a Las Vegas concert is not related to a COVID-19 vaccine side effect.
Yes
The incident sparked other conspiratorial speculation about robotic clones and even connections to antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Yes
Perry has addressed the incident and explained that it was a “party trick” for her act.
No
“Eye glitches” are not a known COVID-19 vaccine side effect.

The Takeaway

Anti-vaccination trolls often try to find ways to attribute strange viral moments to the COVID-19 vaccines, but such claims lack evidence and have the potential to spread harm. This video of Perry’s eye “glitching” during an October 2022 concert was no exception. As the video racked up millions of views, many people dismissed the most likely explanations (Perry had something in her eye, experienced a muscle spasm or used strong eyelash glue) in favor of their preferred conspiratorial ideas. While wide-ranging, these conspiratorial claims all had one critical characteristic in common: a complete lack of evidence.

Conspiracy theories thrive on the absence of information. People want to know the truth and when a clear answer is not immediately available, they may opt to invent one themselves. While this results in some nonsensical ideas that are easily dismissed (rest assured, Perry is not a robot), others may contribute — even subconsciously — to claims that many people take seriously, such as anti-vaccination claims. Perry has been an advocate for vaccinations.

The 5 Factors

We’ve determined that this viral rumor is misleading or false based on its failure to pass the following credibility factors. Please note that these factors do not represent degrees of falsehood. A post that fails a single factor is generally just as false as a post that fails all five.

Snapshot

Source
Evidence
Reasoning
Authenticity
Context

Source

Has it been posted or confirmed by a credible source?

No.

This claim was not made by an expert or scientific body nor anyone with firsthand knowledge of the situation. Perry herself disavowed any conspiratorial explanations. This claim was spread on social media by people with an anti-vaccination agenda.

Evidence

Is there evidence that proves the claim?

No.

There is no evidence to support this claim. This claim was manufactured to take advantage of a viral moment to spread anti-vaccine misinformation and other conspiracy theories.

Reasoning