Katy Perry is no stranger to heartbreak anthems, but her newest single “Bandaids” cuts deeper than ever. The breakup ballad, that’s paired with a gory video that shows her dodging death, has fans convinced she’s calling out ex-fiancé Orlando Bloom.
Katy Perry, 41, and Orlando Bloom’s relationship was as dazzling as it was complex. The two met in 2016 during a playful argument over a burger at a Golden Globes afterparty – an encounter that would lead to one of Hollywood’s most-watched romances.
After briefly splitting in 2017, the couple rekindled their love less than a year later, resulting in a Valentine’s Day proposal in 2019, according to People.
The pandemic upended their wedding plans, but it didn’t stop them from moving forward together.
In August 2020, they welcomed their daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom.
“I found everything I was ever searching for when I became a mother. So grateful for that profound, deep love and honored to join the mama club. Happiest Mother’s Day,” she tweeted May 9, 2021, in a Mother’s Day post.
Cracks in relationship
By many accounts, it was the kind of picture-perfect relationship Perry once sang about, but behind the public smiles and social media-perfect moments, cracks had started to show.
By June 2025 – nearly a decade after their playful burger feud at In-N-Out – the “I Kissed a Girl” singer and the Lord of the Rings star quietly ended their engagement.
On June 26, People confirmed their split.
“They’re pretty much done,” a source told the outlet at the time. “I don’t really see them being able to turn things around here.”
Perry’s triumphant return
Fast-forward to Nov. 6, and Perry’s long-awaited return to music came not with a bang, but with a heartbreak.
Rolling Stone writes that her new single, “Bandaids” – a breakup ballad cloaked in dark humor – arrived under a veil of emotional vulnerability and personal truth.
The music video opens with Perry performing mundane chores, until a golden ring slips from her finger and into the sink. As she reaches in to save it, the garbage disposal shreds her hand.
“Hand to God, I promised I tried / There’s no stone left unturned / It’s not what you did / It’s what you didn’t / You were there but you weren’t,” the song starts.
Every frame of the video serves as an allegory for the trials of a crumbling relationship. In one scene, she saws off the branch she’s sitting on. In another, she’s dragged down an escalator by a caught shoelace and later electrocuted while passing through a charging station.
“Got so used to you letting me down / No use tryna send flowers now / Telling myself you’ll change, you don’t / Bandaids over a broken heart,” she sings.
Daisy
But amid the chaos, there are flashes of hope. In a particularly poignant moment, as she’s nearly hit by a train, she notices a single daisy blooming through the gravel – a clear homage to her daughter, Daisy. It’s the sight of that flower that gives her the strength to move.
“If I had to do it all over again / I would still do it all over again / The love that we made was worth it in the end,” she sings.
The video ends with standing at a gas station, lighting up a cigarette with a heavily bandaged ring finger. In the background, her song “Woman’s World” – a powerful anthem for women from her 2024 album “143” – is playing over the speakers and just as she fires up the lighter, she looks into the camera and the station explodes.
‘Getting serious’
The singer has made no public statement explicitly confirming the inspiration behind the track, but fans are convinced it tells the story about her split from Bloom.
“Oh Katy Perry is COMING for Orlando Bloom, this is getting serious,” one user wrote on X. A second tweets: “Bandaids over a broken heart’ literally how I feel!!!! It’s obviously about her split from Orlando Bloom.”
“Im gonna call this a documentary but in a music video form (SIC),” shared a third.
“The video ends with a powerful message of resilience – love was worth it, even if it hurt. A raw, emotional comeback!” another commented under Perry’s teaser.
Perry sparks new romance
Since her summer split from Bloom, Perry and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been at the center of dating rumors for months, following multiple low-key sightings. But speculation hit a high in October when the two were photographed walking hand-in-hand in Paris, on Perry’s 41st birthday, fueling buzz about a possible romance, per Cosmopolitan.
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