Luke Bryan defends Katy Perry in face of 'Idol' criticism: 'Makes me appreciate her'

Luke Bryan is standing up for his colleague, fellow "American Idol" judge Katy Perry.

The "Play it Again" singer, 46, commented on the criticism Perry, 38, has received for her commentary on the show, which has made headlines through the last season that the pair judged alongside Lionel Richie — and even earned her a booing.

"Katy Perry's been dealing with stuff like that her whole career," Bryan said during an interview at Country Music Association Fest, according to Fox News. "We all get it.… I mean we're judging kids that people at home fall in love with.… We're not gonna bat 1,000 as judges."

Bryan added that as judges, he thinks they "get set up."

"We kinda fall on the sword a lot of times," he said. "And get set up to where people can get very vocal on socials and stuff."

Perry was criticized this year for her tough love and commentary in response to young mom Sara Beth Liebe and was accused of mom-shaming her. And Perry earned her first audience "boo" of her "Idol" judging career after giving some constructive criticism to Nutsa Buzaladze.

"Katy gets picked on for going out and trying to have fun making a TV show," Bryan said.

Later, he added: "Sometimes, you just gotta say stuff," he said. "It may be my year, next year."

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Entertainers, he added, are "conditioned" to face criticism. "It makes me appreciate her even more, just how big of a scale she's had to deal with that her whole career."

Contributing: Charles Trepany

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Luke Bryan is standing up for Katy Perry in face of 'Idol' criticism