Oh my God

Someone should tell Katy Perry to look at herself in the mirror before pointing her finger at others.

In 2011, she slammed Madonna for combining sex and spirituality in her performances and even questioned other artists' intentions in "(playing) that card".

The 29-year-old US singer, who claimed that spirituality was important to her and was not to be taken lightly, had also reportedly dissed Lady Gaga in 2010 for the latter's eyebrow-raising music video for her song Alejandro.

Perry had tweeted: "Using blasphemy as entertainment is as cheap as a comedian telling a fart joke."

Clearly, the pot called the kettle black.

Perry's own Egyptian-themed music video for her latest single Dark Horse recently caused a petition to be staged against it by a 22-year-old UK resident named Shazad Iqbal due to its "portrayal of blasphemy".

At the 1:15 minute mark, a male suitor of Perry's is "zapped" and reduced to sand along with one of his pendants, which spells out the word "Allah" (meaning God in Arabic).

More than 65,000 people supported the petition and since then, an edited version of the video without the offending image has been released.

From the looks of it, Perry is not the only one who has angered religious communities through her music - and she certainly won't be the last to commit similarly offensive acts.

LADY GAGA

Her outrageous antics in recent years have certainly placed her in the bad books of Catholics. The president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights Bill Donohue criticised the US pop star, 27, for her 2011 song Judas.

The video portrayed her as Mary Magdalene and The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus as the titular disciple who betrayed Jesus. In the song, Lady Gaga repeatedly sings of her love for Judas.

Donohue told HollywoodLife: "She is trying to rip off Christian idolatry to shore up her talentless, mundane and boring performances."

Gaga said she is a "religious and spiritual person obsessed with religious art".

In 2010, she had incurred the wrath of the same organisation with her music video for Alejandro. The group called her a "Madonna wannabe squirming around half-naked with half-naked guys and abusing Catholic symbols".

RIHANNA

The Barbadian hit-maker turned Abu Dhabi's famous Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque into a backdrop for a personal photoshoot - which she posted on her Instagram account - during her visit last October.

Although she was, for once, decently dressed, in a black jumpsuit and headscarf, her suggestive poses did not sit too well with the mosque authorities as they were said to go against the status and sanctity of the site. The 26-year-old should really have known that lying supine and provocatively in a mosque a la some fashion model is a major no-no.

The mosque released a statement alluding to a "prominent singer" who "did not make arrangements with the mosque's management prior to her visit and had used an entrance that is not intended for visitors".

It added that "she was asked to leave once it became apparent that some of the photographs she took were not in compliance with the terms of the mosque".

SELENA GOMEZ

How To Draw Flak 101 by Selena Gomez - wear a shiny bindi as a fashion accessory and proceed to offend by dancing in a sexualised manner while singing your innuendo-filled song Come & Get It.

She first did so in a performance at last year's MTV Movie Awards that caught the attention of a Hindu group.

The 21-year-old was criticised by the Universal Society of Hinduism for cultural insensitivity.

Its president Rajan Zed told WENN: "The bindi on the forehead is an ancient tradition in Hinduism and has religious significance.

"It is also sometimes referred to as the third eye and the flame, and it is an auspicious religious and spiritual symbol.

"It is not meant to be thrown around loosely for seductive effects or as a fashion accessory aiming at mercantile greed.

"Selena should apologise and then she should get acquainted with the basics of world religions."

Ouch.

Still, the unrepentant former Disney star has since been spotted on multiple occasions with the bindi, most recently while buying a pack of cigarettes at a petrol station in California last month.

MADONNA

Who has the 55-year-old Queen of Pop NOT offended in her career? Over the years, her music videos and stage performances have managed to raise the ire of various religious groups.

In 2006, the Material Girl staged a mock-crucifixion on a glittery cross in Rome as part of her Confessions tour even though Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders had earlier condemned her act as "disrespectful, in bad taste and provocative" and "blasphemous".

Back in 1989, her controversial video for Like A Prayer angered Catholic leaders for images of burning crosses and the seduction of a saint.

 

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