Katy Perry Meow Perfume Signing At Nordstroms! Or How Katy Perry Dissed Over a Hundred Fans and Almost Caused a Riot!
Today is a day two weeks in the making, sigh… This is the Katy Perry Nordstrom’s perfume signing. Ms. Katy Perry, who I have loved since her first album, is doing a meet and greet and signing her new perfume “Meow.” With a preorder you get to have a meet and greet with Katy along with a professional photo with her. Sounds great right? I thought so too…
Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of organized signings. It’s almost impersonal, you can only get their items signed, have .7 seconds with the celebrity and they are ushered off like a bug at a picnic. However, I know how fan friendly Katy is… Or was… and so I said to myself… I would love to get another more current photo with her. So, I pre-ordered my perfume, dropped down my $70.00 and waited until… Well… Today.
I tried to verify info with Nordstrom’s several times and finally pinned them down to some semblance of the facts. They instructed people that they can line up at 4:00 a.m. and then get their perfume and their laminate. Now, they also said that they have already assigned us a number… So, why the line up… I dunno…
8:32 a.m. – I’m stuck in traffic on the way over Laurel Canyon and about to rip my hair out! UGh…
8:56 a.m. – Literally, traffic was crawling up the hill… It was so so so bad. CB just called and said that they are giving out laminates according to the time that people got there… Which was different for what I was told. Sigh…
9:21 a.m. – I just got to the Grove, and got to Nordstroms. I picked up my perfume and sure enough the laminates were given out according to the time you arrived. Now, wouldn’t it have been simpler to just give them out according to the number you pre-ordered like we were told. Sigh…
9:29 a.m. – I am in the “P” group. I don’t think that’s too bad. They started with “C” so I shouldn’t be too far back in line. Okay, I’m heading off to work.
2:56 p.m. – Okay, back at the Grove. CB is here and we were ushered into a pen with the other people with laminates. Katy is supposed to arrive at 3:00.
3:05 p.m. – I see Ryan, a friend of mine and text him hi. LOL, who can stay away from Katy Perry.
3:11 p.m. – Katy is arriving on the Trolley at the Grove. LOL… OMG she is so cute!
3:15 p.m. – Okay, so they threw Katy onstage and she doesn’t really know what to do. It’s rather chilly out… Ah well…
3:20 p.m. – So they are going to do a small press conference and then do questions from the audience…
3:32 p.m. – Katy is very cute and trying to take questions from the audience, but more particularly the back of the audience.
3:48 p.m. – Okay, so the “press conference” is over and now Katy is heading off to tape Extra with Mario Lopez. Sigh…
4:13 p.m. – Katy is back! I think they are starting the line, but then someone points out that the person on stage is the owner of the Grove and his family. They are onstage chatting, and it appears that the “A” and “B” laminates were all VIP or given out to the special people.
4:34 p.m. – Okay, it looks like they are finally starting with the actual fans. Finally! Katy is supposed to be here until 7:00 p.m. This should be fine and hopefully we will get in and out without a problem!
4:35 p.m. – It’s getting colder out… I can’t believe that it’s so chilly. Well, it is December, sometimes living in Los Angeles I forget that. LOL…
4:49 p.m. – Katy is literally taking forever with everyone in line. God, I hope they can get though the whole line. I mean she’s chatting and really being personable. Which is awesome as long as everyone gets to go in!
5:16 p.m. – I brought my Rolling Stone magazine with me just in case we can bring personal things in. It looks like they don’t care so I always like to bring something just in case. The laminate says no personal items, but honestly they don’t seem to give a crap.
5:34 p.m. – It’s really moving slow… Man oh man… My friend Frank is here and he got a laminate from the people at Nordstrom’s so he made it into the pen… Man oh man…
5:45 p.m. – Wow, thank God I have a bunch of people to hang with…
5:47 p.m. – There are so many young girls here… I shouldn’t be shocked but wow… I didn’t realize she had such a young fanbase.
5:56 p.m. – Okay, they are moving us into a different pen closer to the stage.
6:01 p.m. – Katy Perry just said something to her handler, and I saw it. She said, “Then I’m done.” Now, that could be after all the laminates are done, or whatever.
6:05 p.m. – The people at Nordstrom’s are handing out perfume samples now… Frank said that this is a bad sign, because they are just trying to butter us up, lol…
6:14 p.m. – Oh… Oh… They are not bringing anyone up in the line… Oh my God, are they really ending almost an hour early?
6:15 p.m. – MTF reader John, who I haven’t seen in years, just grabbed me and said, he heard she is going to come down off the stage. Sigh… a bunch of the girls in the front have made signs, like, “Don’t leave us Katy!” and one says, “Give us a chance Katy!”
6:16 p.m. – Okay, they are making an announcement that Katy is going to leave. She is leaving over a hundred fans in the lurch here! I can’t believe it!
6:17 p.m. – They just announced that Katy has to leave but she has time to do another interview on stage. Wow… Really? She can’t finish her meet and greet, but of course she has time do answer more questions actually the same questions that she answered EARLIER in the day. Come on…
6:18 p.m. – Now the girls with signs are crying… and Katy says, “No, I’m going to come down there.” What?
6:24 p.m. – Katy Perry comes down into the audience and creates a riot. I mean people go crazy, there’s pushing and shoving and mass chaos because these young girls and people have waited to meet Kay Perry since 4:00 a.m. Of course they are going to go nuts.
I mean what does she expect? I’m so pissed off… Not only did more than half of the people who bought her perfume get dissed but now Katy Perry is out in the audience and they have to try and push and shove to “meet” her. This is making even the worst premiere seem sane.
It’s like 15 people deep, tourists are rushing in, dealers are throwing their stuff in, and young girls are getting crushed in the chaos. I did get my rolling stone magazine signed and a poster signed as well, but you know what, this is not what I signed up for.
This is dangerous. It’s not organized it’s in fact asinine, if I could get out, I would. But I can’t I’m stuck in this sea of people who are upset that Katy Perry has just dissed them. I have never in all my years collecting been to an event as half assed organized as this one.
First off, Katy Perry you should be ashamed. You should be ashamed that you dissed more than half of your fans who showed up and shelled out $70.00 bucks to meet you. You be ashamed that instead of just finishing your meet and greet you put people in danger. I literally saw a woman in tears after being smashed into the barricade. I personally was trying to help shield two kids from getting crushed in the mash up. It was ridiculous. You can do a press conference, and then say, “I have to go.” But I can do another interview to hock your perfume. Shame… Shame on you Katy Perry.
Is that melodramatic? possibly, but I took a half day off work, planned this day for two weeks, sat in traffic trying to get my perfume bottle and then had to sit in traffic again. Then I had to watch a bunch of people get an amazing photo on stage for an hour, only to be told “I have to go.” Wow…
Without hesitation or remorse, I marched my white Canadian ass into the Nordstrom’s… On my way one of the “Katy Perry” people said, “Oh, I’m sorry guys.” I looked at her and said, “Hell, I’m returning this perfume.” She was shocked, “Really?” she asked… I said, “I have never been to an event and have been treated with such contempt. And I was even put in danger. It felt like I was in a riot.”
The people at Nordstrom’s were super nice, handing out free perfume to anyone who could grab one. The workers were all so understanding and happy to return the perfume. I even told the woman helping us that I know it’s not her fault, but I need to bitch, and she was so sweet, and was like i understand! LOL..
So yeah… I’m bitter… I did get something signed, but I didn’t get that moment… whether that’s five seconds, or five minutes… That is better than an autograph, it’s a memory. My memory of this event… Well, I supposed you can read what that memory is.
It will be a little while before I can listen to any of Katy’s music. That makes me very sad, because Teenage Dream was such a part of my life this summer. I’m just so sad about this whole thing. Sigh…
Until next time kids….
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mike
Starting this website has been a labor of love. I love sharing my fandom experiences but more than that I love hearing everyone else’s stories. I love hearing about conventions, movie locations, meet celebrities good and bad, I love it all. I sincerely hope you enjoy my exploits, the adventures of everyone who submits an article, and all the members of the Fanboy Family! Without everyone who writes and reads MTF there wouldn’t be a site. This is truly for the fans, by the fans!
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Mike,
Katy is definitely an instance of “Fame has changed.” I saw an interview with her last night and she was putting on all sorts of airs she wouldn’t have been back a few years ago. What is with this super fake airy voice she is doing now? I miss warped tour Katy Perry. This one needs a reality check.
WOW! What a complete and total beyotch! I never really liked the woman, but now I officially hate her. Didn’t they only sell 200 bottles, meaning there were only 200 people lined up to get the bottle signed? And she couldn’t even do that??? Wow! Just wow. Shame on you, Katy Perry!
Hey Mike,
Your article is totally on point. My friend was instructed to pick up the lanyards no earlier than 4:00 AM at Nordstrom’s. He was told that anyone trying to line up earlier than that would be kicked out by security. He arrived at 3:45 AM to scope everything out and saw nearly 100 people in line already. So much for not letting people lineup before 4:00 AM.
That said, our letter was “K”. Since there were 10 people assigned for every letter, we figured we were within 110 back from the front. Not bad for an appearance that was scheduled to go 3 hours.
The 1st people in line received lanyards beginning with the letter “C”. We were told that people associated with The Grove received priority and were assigned the “A” and “B” lanyards. In theory, that means about 20 “VIP” people should be ahead of the public. That in of itself is disappointing since the people who lined up at the crack of dawn should get priority over associates of The Grove. That very nepotistic and unprofessional. What makes it even more aggravating is that those 20 VIP’s brought family and friends with them into the line and extended the wait for the general public even more.
It didn’t help that Katy seemingly took about 5 minutes with each person who went on stage. I appreciate the fact that she wanted to share an intimate moment with each of her fans, but she shouldn’t do so at the expense the nearly 200 faithful fans still waiting in line. It’s pretty outrageous that she allowed the line move so slowly and then had the nerve to cut short the scheduled meet-and-greet by an hour. There were fans that waited in line to get their lanyard as early as 3:00 AM and still didn’t make it up the stage to meet Katy.
I guess she felt bad for dissing all of us. So she signed up a storm for everyone as she exited the stage. Wouldn’t it have been a better idea to have the people who were already in line just move faster? I guarantee she could have easily gone through the entire line in almost half the time had she not wasted so much time with each person.
All-in-all it was a very disappointing experience. Like you, I rearranged my hours at work to attend this event. I feel even worse for my friend who is a very big Katy Perry fan. He got up before the roosters to pick up our lanyards and still missed out on a photo opportunity with Katy.
I recommend that you tweet your article to Katy Perry, Nordstrom’s, and The Grove. They need to get a clearer understanding of how terribly this event was run. We are fans and customers and they are risking us taking the following actions by treating us so shabbily:
1) Boycotting Katy’s music
2) Cease shopping at Nordstrom’s and The Grove
I find that the potential for lost revenue tends to get people’s attention.
Anyways…that’s my two cents.
Ryan
Last time i was pissed off, it was after paying to see conan the barbarian…
Hey Mike. Thanks for the article. I’m a friend of Lindsay’s and she referred me to your site. Wow where to start here….My wife and I were THE NEXT PEOPLE to go up on stage when they cut the line off. We pre-ordered our perfume over two weeks ago and were there at 3:30 am to line up and wait. First off, why start the line at 4 when the store doesn’t open until 9? They could have saved her fans a lot of time and effort and just started the line at 7. Or 8. No need to line up five hours before they even give out the lanyards.
We were given letter “I” when we finally got our orders. There were only about 50 people ahead of us. WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GOLDEN. Instead, like you so eloquently put it, we got screwed by an artist that showed us and over half of the faithful that she doesn’t give a s**t about us. I remember thinking that something wasn’t right when the signing started and we saw people go up on stage that weren’t in line with us all day. Even then I had a bad feeling. They were just taking up way to much of signing time.
I don’t know if anyone else did this or not, but I counted the people that wen’t up before I saw a single lanyard and I stopped counting at 72. 72 people who didn’t wait, and who didn’t sacrifice anything got to go up before the 70 or so who had been there all day?! Are you kidding me? If that wasn’t enough, at the end they decided to grab 5 more people before they stopped the line. We would have been 3 and 4 just barely making it. What did they do? Are you ready for it? They took five more “Nordstrom/Grove people who were standing off to the side of the signing line!!! Talk about a SLAP IN THE FACE!!!!!!!! We had to watch five more so called “VIP’s” walk right past us and go up on stage to do something that we had been waiting all day to do.
Like I said earlier, we pre-ordered over two weeks ago as my wife is a (or should I say was a) HUGE Katy Perry fan. My wife requested the day off and we made the over 250 mile round trip to be there at 3:30 am. We had been so excited to meet one of the biggest pop stars in the world. We left last night tired, cold, and sick and we have nothing to show for it. I especially feel sad for the little girls who had been in line with us since 3:30 am and who got all made up complete with their little blue wigs for a chance to meet their hero. I can only imagine how they must have felt.
I know this doesn’t mean anything to her, but Katy Perry lost a lot of fans last night. She showed us no respect whatsoever. We waited in the blistering cold for over 10 hours total and she just said “no”. Really Katy? Really? Truthfully, there is no “make up” for this. I am shocked, saddened, angry, and disappointed in you Katy. Yesterday was a perfect example of fame getting to someone’s head. She could have been a stand up person. She could have kept her promise. She could have done the right thing. But she didn’t. And we paid the price. Katy, I can’t speak for anyone else. I won’t. But I can say for sure that you lost two fans last night. Not that it matters to you.
Wow Chris, I didn’t even know all THAT! crazy! Why would they take more Grove people… What the hell man… That just makes me even more pissed off!
Where do you go to see the exit interviews all the fans got to when they left the stage?
You are all so right on. It feels so good to hear the truth about that day and not the lies about Katy spending three hours signing fan signatures. I came to the line to pick up my lanyard at 3:45 am and sat in line for a little over five hours to pick up my lanyard. I came back with my 4 year old daughter at 2 pm at 2:45 pm we were shuffled to a second area in the front of the stage. Katy spent an hour answering questions from 3-4 pm
And then spent 20 minutes with the press. At 4:20 pm fans started coming up on stage but NONE of them were in line the night before. People after people kept coming up to the stage and it wasn’t until after 5 pm I saw the girl with braces and her mom who had come the night before at 9 pm go up and get a pic and signature. I couldn’t believe it. Over 100 industry people freshly showered with no lanyard came up and at about 5:15 pm we were moved to the side of the stage. I was number 64 in line to get my lanyard so I thought we were good but after 45 minutes of signing fans who cane the night before and bought the perfume and waited to see 100 industry people get signatures with their friends and family we were tkd she was going to stop and we were next in line. They told us if we moved toward the fence Katy would pass by that way. I told the pr people it was the biggest lie. To sign 100 industry people’s stuff and leave the fans who were up the night before hanging. She had only spent 45 minutes signing and I was number 64. She hadn’t
Even signed 100 fans perfumes. My daughter after waiting four hours was asking what’s happening? I want to go up there. I explained to her we had to wait to see what they were going to do a handsome young Jewish guy came up d said ok “Australia and the two girls behind me wanting to skip over my four year old daughter and I. I said we have H were before the girls behind us. Thank God the girls were honest and said yeah she’s before us and they took all six of us. The Australian woman and the two girls behind us said they felt like they were going to vomit. It was so upsetting and then we were ushered up to take our picture. I don’t know but after 15 hours of waiting and getting a stunt like that pulled on you and then for him to want to pass me and my daughter over like a bouncer in a nightclub was sickening. But i went up shut my mouth and gave my daughter her moment with Katy Perry. What a memory for me. The only thing I wish is that KAty perry herself read the truth of what really happened that night not the bullshit her Pr firm spins about the events of that day. Industry shod of got a private signing and the day should of been about the fans. I’d love to hear more truth about that day. It’s cathartic. Katy I hope you read this if you really are looking for spiritual depth and not lies.
Wow, every horror story that gets posted is worse than the last! I’m so sorry. Why would they try and skip you guys, I mean like… That’s so rude! What the hell is wrong with her people, and for that matter Katy Perry herself!
Hey Mike! Sorry I didn’t post or respond earlier, but I needed to really reflect on this whole event. Although it was great bumping into you at the event and catching up, I’m stil disgusted with how everything transpired as well. Thank you Ryan, Chris and Biggest Little Fan for posting your DETAILED frustrations online (I hope you have passed that information off to others as well).
I know CB, Mike and myself were extremely frustrated even as we returned our Meow fragrances. There is no excuse for what transpired. After the event, I know I voiced my frustrations and even Mike agreed, this was “The worst event either one of us had attended” and all three of us agreed it was way more intense than attending a star-studded film premiere. There was no reason this meet and greet needed to become “like a riot.”
Ryan, you did an excellent job with counting and I was beginning to wonder the same exact thing with how many VIPs showed up out of nowhere. Like Mike I was letter “P” and was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on. At a certain point, someone should have sped up the process and said, “We need to get through as many people as we can.” Had Katy just stayed up on stage and signed autographs in a calm manner, so many people wouldn’t have been disappointed. In fact, most of the people still waiting probably would have gotten through with no problems if she just spent 10 seconds with each fan instead of 5 minutes.
To have paid “$70” and wasted an entire day for that horrible experience, has definitely left a sour taste in my mouth for everyone involved (Nordstroms, The Grove and Katy Perry). Maybe they should have stopped the photos and taken group pictures like five at a time and/or only signed photos, but no one stepped up. Everyone that was running the event didn’t care because they made a ton of money off “stupid fans.”
My favorite part of the whole night was when we made it out of the chaos and were walking away to return our items and one of Katy Perry’s people stopped us. As Mike wrote, she was “shocked we were returning it” and couldn’t understand “why?” To comfort us she actually had the guts to say, “Well I work for her and I didn’t even get to meet her on stage” like that was going to make us happy. Even after describing our thoughts and opinions about disappointed little girls, protecting people from getting crushed, moms and children crying, etc. she didn’t even blink an eye with all the danger going on that was caused by this poorly planned event. She and the people surrounding her had no remorse.
However, if you guys REALLY want to voice your frustrations, contact Nordstroms, Katy Perry and The Grove via Twitter, Facebook, email and even letter writing (whether typed or hand-written). Each letter is worth like 100 facebook posts and packs more of a punch. Nothing is more damaging than a lot of negative press. I come from a press background (both PR and print) and believe me the way this event has been presented has been brilliant and spun as “positive.” Besides this wonderful website, I have read almost NO negative press about the incident. It’s up to YOU the REAL fans to voice your frustrations and concern. Believe me THEY WILL READ YOUR NOTES and THOUGHTS!!!!
The event coordinator for Nordstrom is MICHELLE GUZZETTA and address your concerns to her. That’s part of her job, deal with her “target audience” and address the public. Share, forward and retweet all your details to everyone you know. Verbally just saying it to your friends is nice, but not nearly as effective as spreading the news digitally.
Go on Facebook and twitter to share this article with everyone you know so they know the real truth (if you haven’t already). If anyone else is brave, actually contact the news outlets that put a positive spin on the event. Go on the offensive and describe in detail what really transpired.
John, that wa so well said, I can’t think of a thing to add! I thought we were screwed, but Biggest Little Fan was almost skipped over and she was next in line! WTF!
Guys if you want to contact MICHELLE GUZZETTA her number at Nordstroms is 714-513-4883
My heart and pain goes out to Little Big Fan. That is absurd! I have never heard about that happening at an organized autograph signing with them “picking and chosing” fans like a bouncer. I have been in the “bouncer” position when I acted as a celebrity liason and never did that. I’m shocked they even attempted that and for them to have only got through maybe 60-70 people is even more ludicrous.
And thank you, Mike! After some more research I notice Katy Perry has not publicly posted anything on her website about the event (and Twitter I have not had the time to look). It has been more along the lines like this Pop Candies video: http://youtu.be/q6mvP42C9kI
When I get home from work I will tweet and Facebook some more about the event
Thanks guys. It feels so good to get the acknowledgement about how crazy it was that he was actually going to pass my four year old daughter over. How insane is that??? And being number 64. Katy signed about 100 signatures before getting to the first girl who lined up the night before at9 pm and spent the night outside and wasn’t first but had to wait an hour. Katy’s probably thinking I signed like 165 signatures not knowing only 64 were fans who got up jn the middle of the night. I camt believe that guy. I don’t know if he has kids but if he doesn’t one dag he will…
And j called and left a message for the lady at Nordstroms Saturday.
Mom of biggest little fan.
Biggest Little Fan, like I said before I have never seen or heard that before at an organized signing with them picking and choosing. Just look at the positive, you were able to meet Katy Perry with your daughter in a safe manner, albeit it took way too long. The videos posted here do a good job showing the chaos, but it was much worse.
By the way, have you heard back from Michelle yet?
Hello everyone. I wanted to give a small update. I actually spoke with Michelle the other day for quite some time. She was very sweet and listened to my whole story. At first, I just wanted her email address so I could take the time to write out everything in detail and send it to her. She gave me that information and also asked me if I would like to talk with her at that time over the phone. She was VERY apologetic and seemed very sincere about her side of the event. The long and the short of it is as follows: This was not strictly a Nordstrom event. This was a joint event between Nordstrom, & The Grove. As far as she knew there were only two Nordstrom people that were VIP’s and that went up before the general public. (that is in-correct and I pointed this out to her. My wife and I saw almost the entire staff from the early morning shift up there) The rest were all Grove people. The first person up to meet Katy was the owner of The Grove and his family. Supposedly, Katy was not aware that people had been waiting since 4am to meet her. (Yeah right) The decision to make this event and outside event was the sole decision of The Grove management and not Nordstrom. Nordstrom wanted to keep it indoors. Lastly (and the most important part) it is VERY important that you contact her via e-mail and leave her your detailed contact information. If you want to include your story please do so. BUT LEAVE YOUR INFORMATION!!!! I say this because she did inform me that while SHE CANNOT PROMISE, she is working very hard to either A: Set up a private meet and great session with all of the people that didn’t get to meet Katy or B: get in touch with Katy’s people so that she can sign some hand picked items and have them shipped to us. Anyway, it looks like she’s trying to do the right thing here, which is great for us. Here’s hoping for the best. If anyone has any questions please ask! All the best Mike!
P.S. Michelle’s e-mail address is michelle.guzzetta@nordstrom.com
Thanks so much for your help in all of this chris!
you rock!
Hey guys. Michelle passed me onto Yolanda Love and she sincerely apologized to me for the nightmare of that day and said she was sincerely sorry for the way it turned out. We couldn’t find out who that “bouncer” who wanted to pass me and my daughter up (I wish I would have taken a picture of him with my iPhone but I still remember what he looks like). So the acknowledge from you guys and an apology from Nordstroms eased the insult of it all somewhat. Thank you for listening and being honest. 🙂
Mom of biggest little fan