Katy Perry to Taylor Swift: 'I'm sorry'

Katy Perry wants to end her feud with Taylor Swift after the pair's beef peaked on Friday.

The pair have been locked in a long-running battle ever since Swift, 27, accused Perry, 32, of trying to sabotage her tour by stealing her backing dancers.

On Friday, the same day Perry's new album Witness was released, Swift released her entire back catalogue onto streaming services in a move widely seen as a provocation towards Perry.

Now, Perry says she is ready to put their previous issues behind them.

Speaking to Thrive CEO Arianna Huffington on the Thrive Global Podcast, Perry said: "I am ready to let it go, forgive her and I'm sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her ... I love her, and I want the best for her. And I think she's a fantastic songwriter."

Swift wrote the song Bad Blood about the feud and Perry appeared to hit back with her recent single Swish Swish, but she hopes that by burying the hatchet, they can inspire others to see the benefits of forgiveness.

She added: "Maybe I don't agree with everything she does and she doesn't agree with everything I do, but I just really, truly want to come together in a place of love and forgiveness and understanding and compassion."

Perry's comments about forgiveness come after she recently claimed Swift tried to "assassinate her character" during their ongoing feud.

She said: "No one has asked me about my side of the story, and there are three sides of every story: one, two, and the truth.

"I mean, I'm not Buddha - things irritate me. I wish that I could turn the other cheek every single time, but I'm also not a pushover, you know? Especially when someone tries to assassinate my character with little girls [her fans]. That's so messed up!"

Perry previously insisted she "tried to reach out" to Swift but was "shut down".

She said: "I did try and reach out to her. I tried to do the right thing, the good thing, and, you know, she shut me down and wrote a song ... [I'd] absolutely [talk to her]. By the way, I am ready because I think when women unite, the world is going to heal.

"I don't have any beef really with anyone. I love everyone, and honestly ... I think we need to unite more than ever. I think we see that today especially. Like, we need to come together and love on each other today.

"Don't matter where you come from, don't matter what you believe, don't matter which music you like the most, we are the same and we need to be unified."

- Bang! Showbiz