‘American Idol’ Quitter Sara Beth Liebe Says ‘I’m So Over’ Katy Perry Mom-Shaming Drama

Update April 5: Sara Beth Liebe is “so over” the mom-shaming drama associated with her stint on American Idol. In a new message shared to social media, the singer insists she’s ready to leave the topic behind her—and she hopes others will, too.

But it may take some time for the buzz to die down.

Liebe has been one of the most talked about contestants on the show so far this season, however as of Sunday night’s Hollywood Week episode, she’s a contestant no more. And she didn’t leave the show the way most vocal hopefuls do.

No judge sent her packing. No one voted her out. Liebe, who earned sympathy from viewers after allegedly being “mom-shamed” by panelist Katy Perry during her audition, simply chose to walk away from the big opportunity.

Liebe’s Hollywood experience started out with high praise from famed former Idol contender Clay Aiken, who told the 25-year-old mother of three that he’d listened to her audition performances and found her voice to be “infectiously lovely.”

However, when she sang a cappella for him, he worried she was losing her confidence.

After Aiken left her with his take on the classic “fake it to make it” advice, Liebe spoke about feeling off amid the competition.

“I don’t even really know what show business is, and then I came here and it’s just a little taste of it,” she said. “I’ve been a mom since I was 18. I’ve been married since I was 18. So I don’t feel like I fit the mold. I’m trying to figure this all out. I don’t know.”

Noting that it was hard to be away from her trio of children, Liebe declared she planned to try her best. She did just that as she took the stage to belt out a rendition of The Police’s 1979 hit, “Roxanne,” that showed off her full range.

The judges applauded, her fellow competitors gave her a standing ovation and then Liebe shocked them all.

“This opportunity is really rad, but this is actually going to be my last performance because my heart’s at home,” she told the panel, her voice a little shaky. “So I’m gonna get home to my babies. They kinda need me. Thank you.”

While judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan wondered if she was really leaving, Perry countered, “No. We’re going to figure this out.” And that was just the first way she showed a passion for keeping Liebe in the competition.

Viewers were likely surprised to see Perry become such a advocate for Liebe after the two first met during the audition rounds. That’s when Perry, after learning that the young singer had multiple kids, got up an acted as if she might pass out on the table before her.

“If Katy lays on the table, I’m going to pass out,” Liebe joked.

Perry responded by saying, “Honey, you’ve been laying on the table too much.”

That sparked backlash from fans on social media, and on March 8, it inspired Liebe to take to TikTok to talk about it, where she said Perry’s comment “wasn’t super-kind.”

“It was embarrassing to have that on TV and it was hurtful and, you know, that’s that,” she said in the short clip. “But I did want to take this opportunity to just say that I think women supporting women is so cool, and I think that mom-shaming is super lame.”

But on the April 2 episode, Perry seemed like Liebe’s biggest supporter.

“Sarah Beth, I know life is scary,” the “Firework” singer said. “I also know that it’s easier to walk away than to be rejected.”

Perry then related to her “as a mother” and continued to try to convince Liebe to stay, adding, “Remember that self-love is just as big as motherly love. Don’t leave the competition.”

Alas, Liebe had already made up her mind, telling a producer, “I feel like I’m not gonna to win the show anyway, so I might as well go home.”

So she did.

After her exit aired, Liebe shared another TikTok clip, one that saw her refer to her American Idol experience as “mindblowing” and “humbling,” and something that convinced her “how badly I want to do music.”

But days after that, she added another message to both her TikTok Stories and Instagram Stories that wasn’t about her music at all. Instead the focus was on the controversy that surrounded her time on the show.

“I don’t even know how to go about addressing some of this sh– at this point, because if I don’t say something, everybody gets mad and wants to know what I have to say. And then when I say something, everybody gets mad and thinks I’m using it for 15 minutes of fame or whatever the hell everyone is saying,” she noted in the now-expired videos. “And every time I post something just trying to address something small, so that way everyone will stop blowing up my emails and DMs about stuff, I don’t want … It’s just… There is no winning in this situation.”

Liebe claimed that her experiences on the show had actually been amplified in the press.

“I don’t have anything else to say on this matter,” she continued. “I’m not even mad. The media just blew it into this wild thing and twisted a bunch of stuff. If you’ve watched my videos, you know that I’m not even mad. I’m just trying to do music. I did not ask for any of this to happen. This was not a ploy on my end. Like, this is ridiculous.”

Liebe closed her message by stating that she’s no longer interested in discussing the mom-shaming from Perry or anything else about the show.

“I’m so over it,” she said. “No more.”