Kesha Addresses Controversy Over 'Cannibal' Lyrics About Jeffrey Dahmer

Kesha says that she got “re-canceled” when her “Cannibal” lyrics name-dropping notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer resurfaced online.

“Oh my God, I got re-canceled for the Jeffrey Dahmer lyric. It was a controversial lyric,” Kesha, 38, told People in an interview published on Thursday, July 3. “If some people aren’t offended by what I’m doing, I’m probably not doing a very good job of being a pop star.”

Kesha released her Cannibal album in 2010, where she mentioned Dahmer in a verse from the title track.

“Whenever you tell me I’m pretty / That’s when the hunger really hits me,” Kesha sings. “Your little heart goes pitter-patter / I want your liver on a platter / Use your finger to stir my tea/ And for dessert, I’ll suck your teeth / Be too sweet, and you’ll be a goner / I’ll pull a Jeffrey Dahmer.”

Kesha Teases New Music After Leaving Dr. Luke’s Record Label

The song went viral 10 years later with a crop of new fans choreographing a TikTok dance to the sound. Others, however, criticized Kesha for sensationalizing Dahmer, who was killed in 1994 while serving 15 consecutive life sentences for the murders of 15 men.

Jeffrey Dahmer Curt Borgwardt/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images

“It’s just an interesting time where that can happen now,” Kesha told People. “It’s a trippy thing to witness, and it’s so cool, and I love it. I’m connecting to a whole different audience that wasn’t even alive when I wrote the songs.”

She added, “I feel like the way people are consuming music is so different than it was, and will probably continue to get even more different. But it’s a beautiful thing to watch a song you wrote, God, 15 years ago, and have 7-year-olds now relate to that song.”

Kesha Confirms ‘F—k P. Diddy’ Lyric Change to ‘Tik Tok’ is Permanent

Kesha recently started making music again after leaving Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records in 2023. The pop star claimed in 2014 that Luke, now 51, assaulted her in 2005, which the producer denied before filing a defamation lawsuit. They settled out of court in June 2023.

“There is a day marked on my calendar when I am free to release music, so just know that she is out here in the woods writing and singing till 4 in the morning, ferociously,” Kesha told V magazine in February 2024. “I am being a feral wild woman out here.”

She continued, “I’ll say this: I’ve never felt happier, more excited, more at peace and had such a purpose in my entire life. I feel like I have earned the right to be this happy for sure. So letting that be … I am loving every minute of what feels like a brand-new and very exciting chapter.”