Katy Perry broke down in tears of sadness and rage during a recent American Idol audition after a contestant spoke about surviving a school shooting.
Mattress salesman Trey Louis, 21, had auditioned for the panel by singing 'Stone' by Whiskey Meyers, bringing the panel - formed of Katy, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan - to their feet and even getting compared to Grammy-winner Chris Stapleton.
After his performance, Katy asked Trey what had inspired him to try his luck and audition for the talent show.
The 'California Gurls' singer, 38, struggled to keep her emotions under the surface as he revealed part of his decision was inspired by losing several friends during a mass shooting at his school.
Trey explained: "So American Idol, number one, is kinda where people that I enjoy make it. Number two is, as I said before, I’m from Santa Fe, Texas. In May 2018, a gunman walked into my school.
"I was in art room one. He shot up art room two before he made his way to art room one. Lost a lot of friends. Eight students were killed; two teachers were killed, and it’s just really been negative, man. Santa Fe has had a bad rap here since 2018."
Katy was visibly moved by the horrific story and was seen biting her lip and struggling to hold back her tears at the tragedy.
Sharing her frustration and devastation at the fact a gunman was able to enter a school and take innocent lives, she yelled through her tears: "Our country has f**king failed us!
"This is not ok. You should be singing here because you love music. Not because you had to go through that f**king bulls**t. You didn’t have to lose eight friends!"
Katy, who is mother to two-year-old daughter Daisy Dove who she shares with Orlando Bloom, admitted: "I hope that you remind people that we have to change because you know what? I’m scared too!"
Addressing calls for stricter gun controls to prevent mass shootings from happening in the future, Lionel added: "We have tolerated this for so long, for too long. It’s become a norm."
Katy added: "We’ve gotta change. And I hope you can just lead. Can you do me that favor?", to which Trey responded: "For myself, for my school, for you? You got it. Yes, ma’am, yes, ma’am," before the judges announced that he would be going through to the next round in Hollywood.
The mass shooting Trey had managed to survive was the 2018 Santa Fe shooting, which was considered the third deadliest high school shooting in the history of the US at the time after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018 and the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, as well as being the deadliest in Texas.
Eight students and two teachers were killed and 13 others were injured by 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the accused shooter who opened fire in the school's art block shortly after 7:30 AM on May 18, 2018.
He is yet to stand trial almost five years after the atrocity after being deemed mentally unfit by the Galveston District Attorney’s Office.
Due to his age at the time of the shooting, Dimitrios Pagourtzis is ineligible for the death penalty or life without parole, so the maximum penalty he faces on a capital murder charge is a life sentence with parole eligibility after 40 years.
He currently remains in mental health treatment at North Texas State Hospital, where he was ordered to stay for a minimum of 12 months since February 11, 2022.
