These Katy Perry Shoes Are Reportedly Being Pulled Because They Look Like ‘Blackface’

The shoes in question are her "Rue Face Slip On Loafers" and the high-heeled, cut-out version called the "Ora Face Block Heel Sandal." Both shoes feature two blue eyes, a triangle nose, and red lips over either a black or beige background.

Sources tell TMZ that Katy designed these shoes as part of a larger line, and they were never meant to be offensive. However, "in order to be respectful and sensitive, the team is in the process of pulling the shoes," the source said. (Womens Health reached out to Katy Perry Footwear for comment.)

On Twitter, people are having mixed reactions:

Now theyre saying Katy Perrys shoes are blackface pic.twitter.com/luIDUeRbXy - Mark Dice (@MarkDice) February 11, 2019

Ignorance is Never A fashion statement! Apology NOT accepted #blackface #Gucci #gucciblackface #prada #moncler #katyPerry pic.twitter.com/KDCnkzGlgA - Kieren Boyce (@ThatGyrlKieren) February 10, 2019

So why is Pale or beige face ok???. #TMZ , #katyperry , #blackface , #whitefaced , #dontjudgeafacebyitscolor , #2faced , #weallgotface . https://t.co/W8iEdsbjCF - Linda (@mauimsw777) February 11, 2019

Now Katy Perry got blackface shoes all these different designs out here I have no other choice than to believe they doing this stuff on purpose - piggy (@danae_33) February 11, 2019

those Katy Perry shoes dont look like blackface at all & this is why black people dont get taken seriously when real racist shit happens. mfs are reaachinnggg - Taryn (@tnh_x3) February 11, 2019

Regarding Katy Perrys shoes; if you have to second guess whether a design is blackface/racist...it probably is. Reaching or not, information is too readily accessible for this to occur. #DoBetter - Tia (@TiaHasTime) February 11, 2019

The controversy over Katys shoes comes not only in the middle of Black History Month, but on the heels of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring admitting theyve worn blackface in the past. (Virginia Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment is the focus of another blackface scandal for editing a 1968 college publication containing slurs and blackface photos.)

Gucci also recently pulled a $890 women's sweater with bright red cut-out lips that could be pulled up over the lower half of a persons face. And in December, Prada apologized for featuring figurines and key chains that depicted monkeys with oversized red lips , although the company said on Twitter that the creatures were "not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface."

Katy Perry has received criticism for wearing cornrows and performing as a geisha in the past. "I've made several mistakes," she said on the podcast Pod Save the People in 2017. "Even in the 'This Is How We Do' video, with how I wore my hair-[I had to have] a hard conversation with one of my empowered angels, Cleo [Wade, her stylist], about why I can't wear my hair that way, or what is the history behind wearing the hair that way."

"And she told me about the power in black women's hair and how beautiful it is, and the struggle," she continued. "And I listened, and I heard and I didn't know. I will never understand some of those things because of who I am. But I can educate myself, and that's what I'm trying to do along the way."

Katy has yet to publicly address the controversy over her shoes.