Earlier this year, fast-food giant Wendy’s took a jab at pop star Katy Perry on social media following her spaceflight. Now, her manager, Bradford Cobb, seems to be firing back at the brand after recent reports of nationwide restaurant closures.
On Friday, November 7, it was revealed that Wendy’s plans to close hundreds of locations as part of a corporate “turnaround plan.” Interim CEO Ken Cook announced that between 200 and 350 of Wendy’s roughly 6,000 U.S. restaurants would be impacted. Cobb wasted no time responding, reposting a KTLA headline about the closures to his Instagram Story, alongside a photo of Wendy’s signature red sign.
Cobb’s post comes several months after Wendy’s took a public swipe at Perry. Back in April, the chain’s official X (formerly Twitter) account responded to a Pop Crave post about Perry’s return from her Blue Origin NS-31 spaceflight with a biting remark: “Can we send her back?” This sparked a flurry of reactions online.
Wendy’s doubled down with another post, sharing an image of Perry kissing the ground after her return, captioned, “I kissed the ground and I liked it.” When a user pointed out that Perry had only been in space for about 10 minutes, Wendy’s responded, “Don’t shortchange her, it was 11 minutes.”
Perry was one of six passengers on Blue Origin’s all-women flight crew, which completed a brief suborbital journey before safely returning to Earth.
Weeks after the social media jabs, Perry addressed the negativity online, posting a heartfelt message on a fan page to thank her supporters. “I’m so grateful for you guys. We’re in this beautiful and wild journey together,” she wrote. “I can continue to remain true to myself, heart open and honest especially because of our bond. I love you guys and have grown up together with you and am so excited to see you all over the world this year!”
Perry also reflected on her personal growth, sharing: “Please know I am ok, I have done a lot of work around knowing who I am, what is real and what is important to me. My therapist said something years ago that has been a game changer, ‘no one can make you believe something about yourself that you don’t already believe about yourself.’ And if I ever do have any feelings about it then it’s an opportunity to investigate the feeling underneath it.”
She closed with a message of grace: “When the ‘online’ world tries to make me a human piñata, I take it with grace and send them love, cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed.”
As the drama continues to unfold, Cobb’s Instagram post hints at the ongoing tension between Wendy’s and Perry, though it remains to be seen if Wendy’s will respond to his latest comment.