Police in Australia have confirmed that Katy Perry is under investigation following a sexual assault allegation made by Ruby Rose, who earlier this week accused the singer of assaulting her at a nightclub in Melbourne.
Rose alleged in a series of Threads posts that the incident took place years ago in Melbourne, Australia. She claimed she had kept the alleged assault secret because Perry had supposedly agreed to help her obtain a US visa. In one of the posts, Rose described the alleged encounter in graphic detail and said the incident had stayed with her for years.
In a separate post, Rose said she was only in her early 20s at the time and is now 40, adding that it had taken her almost two decades to speak publicly. She said the delay showed the lasting impact of trauma and sexual assault.
Perry’s team strongly denied the allegation. In a statement shared with BuzzFeed, a representative for the singer said the claims were “not only categorically false, they are dangerous reckless lies.” The statement also said Rose has a “well-documented history” of making serious accusations on social media against various people, and claimed those accusations had repeatedly been denied by the individuals named.
After making the allegation public, Rose deleted the posts. On April 14, she wrote on Threads that she had finalized all of her reports and would no longer be able to comment publicly on the cases or the people involved. She said that request came from police and described it as standard procedure, adding that it would allow her to begin healing and move forward.
The story escalated after multiple outlets, including Variety and E! News, reported that Australian police had confirmed an active investigation. In a statement, officials said detectives from the Melbourne Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT) are investigating an alleged historical sexual assault that occurred in Melbourne in 2010.
Police said they were told the alleged incident took place at a licensed premises in Melbourne’s CBD. They added that because the investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.