Nuggs aren’t the only saucy things being served up at Wendy’s these days.

The Dublin-based fast food chain, long lauded in advertising and PR circles for a social media presence that’s outside the careful corporate box, is riding a storm of controversy — and publicity — for an April 14 post on X that threw shade at singer Katy Perry.

Wendy’s reply, “Can we send her back,” to a Pop Crave post about the star’s return from a flight to space aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin drew strong criticism from an inexplicably anonymous People magazine source who called it inappropriate and misogynist.

“This wasn’t harmless banter, this was a billion-dollar brand using its platform to publicly demean a woman,” the source told the magazine on April 17.

While many took shots at Wendy’s food, and a Katy Perry fan account shared a link to the chain’s online customer feedback form, the fast-food giant also garnered plenty of endorsements for the idea. Its “send her back” post had 51,000 likes on X by the late morning of April 18.

“@Wendys you go girl,” one X user replied.

“If it wasn’t for Passover I’d be getting a big ol baconator,” another said.

Kesha, who Billboard suggested is irked by Perry’s 2024 collaboration with a music producer the “Tik Tok” singer had accused earlier of rape, posted a photo on X of herself smiling and sipping from a Frosty cup. The Wendy’s logo is pointed squarely at the camera.

Wendy’s emailed the same statement to The Dispatch that it sent to People about the reaction to its Katy Perry post. It didn’t include the apology demanded by People’s anonymous source.

“We always bring a little spice to our socials, but Wendy’s has a ton of respect for Katy Perry and her out-of-this-world-talent,” the company said.

Dispatch Reporter Bob Vitale can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Wendy’s shady Katy Perry post courts controversy after Blue Origin