American Idol Star Sara Beth Liebe Quits Show After Katy Perry's Mom-Shaming

An American Idol competitor, Sara Beth Liebe, unexpectedly left the competition after judge Katy Perry faced backlash for ridiculing the mother-of-three during her audition.

During the March 5 show, Sara Beth surprised the judges by revealing that she had given birth to three children before the age of 25.

Perry responded by joking that the young mother had "spent too much time on the table," which was highly mocked.

On Sunday's Hollywood Week episode, Sara quits the competition to "be with her babies," shocking the judges and show producers.

She had sung her first-round song, The Police's Roxanne, before addressing judges Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie, "This opportunity is really rad, but this is actually going to be my last performance, because my heart’s at home. So, I’m going get home to my babies. They kind of need me."

Bryan called the choice a mistake as Perry urged the mom to rethink.

But Sara said, "I don’t even know what showbusiness is. I’ve been a mom since I was 18. I’ve been married since I was 18. I don’t think I realized quite how hard it would be to be away from my kids."

She added, "They’re all still really young. There is a lot of guilt when you leave your kids to do something completely selfish. I feel like I’m not gonna win the show anyway, so I might as well go home."

Perry replied, "You've opened a door you never thought you would open, and you got a yes. You may get another yes in the future. Do not give up."

"I'm really humbled and grateful, and Katy had some really nice things to say," Sara added backstage. "If my kids were a little older... I understand how big of an opportunity this is, but I still kinda wanna go home."

She also said, "I don't think I realized quite how hard it would be to be away from my kids. They're still really young. There's a lot of guilt that comes when you leave your kids to do something completely selfish."

Sara said in a TikTok video after her leaving was announced that she suffered a panic attack immediately after her first audition.

"A lot of people don't realize that I was scouted to audition," she added. "They reached out to me. And I'm so grateful. I've never had this much support with singing. And it's mind-blowing and so humbling and has made me realize how badly I want to do music."

She continued, "Six months ago, I didn't know that yet. But I'm also allowed to make hard choices that are best for me."

This comes after Sara mentioned the Perry incident, which caused widespread criticism.

When Sara disclosed she had three children before the age of 25, Katy, 38, faked fainting, prompting Sara Beth to exclaim, "If Katy lays on the table, I think I'm going to pass out."

Katy, who is also a mother, then said, "Honey, you've been laying on the table too much."

In a recent TikTok video, the aspiring singer said that the joke was hurtful, and she went on to stop people from engaging in mom shaming.

"At the start of my audition before I sang, I mentioned that I had three children and was a young mother and Katy Perry made a joke that wasn't super kind," Sara Beth explained.