As one of the most successful musical artists of all time, Katy Perry can do pretty much whatever she wants. She's had nine number-one hits and sold millions of albums worldwide. She has gone into outer space for the length of time it takes to microwave a potato. She has launched a world tour with some of the most questionable choreography outside of a middle school production of "A Chorus Line." But the most puzzling of all her recent attempts at relevance has got to be her continued loyalty to the producer and songwriter known as Dr. Luke. The man Kesha sued over a decade ago for sexual assault and battery co-wrote and co-produced ten out of the eleven tracks on Perry’s last album, "143." And while the collaboration has been widely panned both creatively and ethically, it does raise a question that there is very little clear guidance on — what should a person do when an associate, friend, or loved one has been accused of abuse?
I have a degree in conflict resolution, and I'm regularly frustrated by how underexplored this dilemma is. It's unfortunate because so many of us have faced this same sticky ethical dilemma and not known what to do. Of course, how we might react to the information that someone we know has been accused of misconduct depends, among other factors, on the closeness of the relationship and the seriousness of the accusation. But the confusing and conflicting pulls of loyalty and shock are formidable, and people in the orbit of an accused individual need guidance.
