It's been over a decade since Kesha released "Cannibal," but only now are fans having a problem with its lyrics -- namely the explicit reference to Jeffrey Dahmer.
The notorious serial killer had his life story told in the new Netflix series Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, and artists like Kesha are being criticized for referencing him in their music.
In "Cannibal," Kesha sings, "Be too sweet and you'll be a goner/ Yeah, I'll pull a Jeffrey Dahmer." The singer's mom, Pebe Sebert, has since come forward to defend her daughter and apologize to Dahmer's victims.
Sebert took to TikTok to tell critics they should be directing their outrage at her. "That was my line that I wrote," she said of the "big controversy" surrounding the hit. "At the time, Kesha and the other writer were too young to even know who Jeffrey Dahmer was."
The songwriter revealed the serial killer's name came up as a potential rhyme for "goner," and Sebert felt that was "the perfect lyric."
She further revealed "Cannibal" was written to be a "a tongue-in-cheek, funny song" and not about actual cannibalism. "Kesha was not the most popular girl in high school. She ended up not even getting asked to the prom," Sebert explained, adding those same boys came crawling back when her career exploded. "And she was like, 'Yeah, now that I'm famous, you're up my anus.'"
Sebert maintained, "Not to be insensitive to anybody whose families were involved in this and lost loved ones... We certainly never meant to hurt anybody."
Between 1978 and 1991, Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys. The victims' families have since condemned Netflix for profiting off the tragedy.
Like Kesha, Katy Perry has been condemned for referencing Dahmer in her 2013 hit "Dark Horse."