Known for her kitschy-fun music videos and uplifting lyrics, Katy Perry just released a PSA that sends a totally different message. In response to the current political climate, the pop star executive-produced a short film calling viewers to refrain from the normalization of hate—and it’s got a haunting twist.
The video begins with 89-year-old Haru Kuromiya, a Japanese-American who recalls her happy childhood on a chicken farm in Riverside, California, before she was sent to the state’s Manzanar internment camp, as happened to so many Japanese-Americans in 1942.
“We had to leave our businesses, our homes and our possessions behind, even our pets,” she says. “We were an American farm family now living in an internment camp, and our constitutional rights were taken away from us.”
Then the big reveal: Haru pauses to stare at the camera and slowly peels off her prosthetic mask—behind it, a Muslim-American woman who urges the viewer, “Don’t let history repeat itself.”
Katy reportedly signed a blank check to help fund the project, titled “#DontNormalizeHate.” While Haru’s story is true, she is portrayed by Muslim actress Hina Khan, and the characterization draws parallels between the Japanese-American people who were incarcerated during World War II and the xenophobic rhetoric of President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Friday. (Trump has advocated to prevent Muslims from entering the country and even suggested the implementation of a registry of Muslims who already live in the United States.)
The pop star, who supported Hillary Clinton’s campaign, will participate in the nationwide Women’s March on Washington event following Trump’s inauguration. She has often spoken out against the unfair treatment of minorities, and received UNICEF’s Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award in recognition of her work with vulnerable children.
Watch the full video below.
