Lady Gaga insists she loves Katy Perry

Lady Gaga has insisted she loves Katy Perry after old texts emerged of her slamming the star.

In an exchange with Kesha in 2016, Gaga and Kesha called Katy "mean" for not reporting producer Dr Luke for allegedly raping her, an allegation both Katy and Dr Luke deny.

Gaga tweeted: ".@katyperry & I have grown up in the industry together. We've gone through both celebrations & differences w/ each other. These are old texts. We've matured, gotten over the past, love each other & share deep respect. Katy is my friend and is truly a kind soul. End of story."

Katy replied to the star, saying: "Love you too friend. Onward and upward."

[embed]https://twitter.com/katyperry/status/1068608473913409536[/embed]

And Gaga's spokesperson released a statement, saying: "These text messages paint a picture of one friend trying to help another through an extraordinary difficult time. They are several years old and in no way reflect Lady Gaga's relationship with Katy Perry. These are private texts that - along with personal information from other high-profile individuals - have been publicly filed to generate media attention for this case."

During the exchange with Gaga in 2016, Kesha wrote: "I'm really upset with Katy Perry. She could bring the whole thing to a head, but she won't. She was raped by the same man."

Gaga replied: "U are really strong standing up to him, she's not as strong as u yet. Have u talked to her?"

Kesha wrote to Gaga: "Your right. I need to find sympathy and empathy for her. she's so mean. it's hard."

And Gaga said: "Do u want me to see if I can talk to her? I know she's mean."

The leaked texts come after Katy admitted to being annoyed that she was ever dragged into the situation, after Kesha and Lady Gaga that she'd been raped by the producer.

Katy reportedly said: "I want to stay out of it because I know them both and I empathise with both of them and obviously it's a horrible situation for both of them.

"And the only two people that know what really went on are those two people."

It has also been claimed that Katy reportedly feared her career would be damaged by Kesha fans if she publicly supported or continued working with Dr Luke.

The 34-year-old pop star decided to stop working with the record producer after he was accused by Kesha of sexually assaulting her and, according to court documents obtained by The Blast, Katy didn't want to be the "one woman that is against women".

The American singer gave a deposition in July 2017, when she was questioned by Dr Luke's attorneys.

Katy explained that she was aware at the time that some celebrities were publicly supporting Kesha after she filed her suit against Luke, who has denied the allegations.

Katy reportedly explained that she felt pressured to distance herself from the producer and to voice her support for Kesha.

She said: "I felt pressured, but I also knew both of them and a lot of people did not. So it was easy for them to be disattached and support an idea rather than an actual instance."

Katy claimed that the pressure was particularly intense from Kesha's fans, a large number of whom contacted her via Twitter.

She explained: "People were generally very angry at me for not saying anything."