Kesha at SXSW: The Pop Star Partners With Feeld To Champion Authenticity

Authenticity is trending, if Kesha’s latest appearance with the dating app Feeld at South by Southwest is any indication. The pop star spoke at the Fighting Loneliness in Our Digital World panel alongside Feeld CEO Ana Kirova, therapist and mental health educator Minaa B., and poet, comedian, and public speaker Alok Vaid-Menon. Kesha opened up about how embracing her authenticity has made her more confident, creative, and free. 

“The more authentic you are, the more vulnerable you are, the better the outcome,” Kesha said during the panel. “I feel seen, the more authentic I am. And it pulls in the right people.” 

Feeld markets itself as a “dating app for the curious,” a platform for open-minded individuals to find romantic connections, including in ethically non-monogamous (ENM) relationships. With her pop songs that emphasize the beauty and grit of a passionate lifestyle, Kesha is a natural fit for Feeld. “I really love that Feeld embraces you for wherever you’re at in your sexual journey, whatever that means to you,” she told People magazine following SXSW. 

Kesha put a high-profile voice to an issue that countless others have raised over the years: the scourge of inauthenticity on dating apps, leading to dating app fatigue. By partnering with Feeld, she emphasizes the need for dating platforms and app features that promote authenticity. “Sexuality should not be something that’s shrouded in shame,” Kesha said. “I am a really big proponent of [being] who you are and [giving] yourself the permission to be proud and authentic in that.” 

People Are Tired Of Making Inauthentic Connections 

Kesha and Feeld both cater to a fun-loving and open-minded audience. And like Feeld, Kesha has strong ties to the LGBTQ+ and ENM communities. “I have explored non-monogamy,” she told People. “I’ve been in love with many, many men and many, many women, and currently where I’m at is I am looking for a sugar daddy,” she said. “I love being able to just be open and honest about it.”

She’s not the only person, famous or otherwise, to encourage people to be themselves on dating apps. Forbes Health surveyed 1,000 people in 2024 about their dating app habits, and 40% of respondents said that their dating app fatigue was due to an inability to form authentic connections with matches. 

Thirty-five percent of respondents said that they were ghosted, lied to, or overall disappointed by people on dating apps. Twenty-four percent said that they were tired of messaging multiple people and receiving the same repetitive responses. And 20% said that the pressure to appear a certain way on dating apps turned them off to online dating entirely. 

In her interview with People magazine, Kesha specifically called out the ongoing photo-editing trend for promoting inauthenticity on apps. “Sometimes you look at pictures that have been photoshopped, and everything is so symmetrical and so airbrushed, and it just looks weird. That’s because perfection is actually quite unnatural,” she said. 

Dating app burnout affects people of all ages, but it’s more prevalent among millennials (80%) and Gen Zers (79%) — Kesha’s main demographic. “Having my fans be so supportive, they do witness me, and I’m so authentic for them because it’s a beautiful symbiotic relationship where the more free I am, the more permission they have to be free, too,” she said at the panel. She recognizes the value of authenticity among her fans, and she said as such to Feeld CEO Ana Kirova. “I feel like it’s my life’s work, creating a safe space for people to come and be authentic.” 

This is why Feeld, as well as other apps that cater to LGBTQ+ and ENM communities, have made authentic connections their ultimate goal. 

Kesha Carved Out Her Own Community — And So Did Feeld and Grindr 

“I do not believe in growth at all costs, and we do not pursue that as a business,” Kirova once said. “We listen to our members across different channels and do our best to grow Feeld in ways that support their personal journeys.” She added, “Noting the current trends within the dating app industry, Feeld has proven that our model defies tradition, and people are responding accordingly.” 

The proof is in Feeld’s earnings: The dating app has experienced year-on-year revenue growth, much like other dating apps that cater to niche communities. Grindr, one of the most popular LGBTQ+ dating apps, has also experienced growth at a time when other dating apps, like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble, have struggled to maintain strong connections with users. 

“We envision a world where LGBTQ+ people are empowered with the knowledge and resources to maintain their physical and mental well-being, and can openly and authentically love without facing arrest, persecution, or discrimination for being themselves,” Grindr states on its website. 

Kesha, meanwhile, has made projecting authenticity a priority. “I remember saying when I began, if I have to tour the world, I’m going to make sure that my shows are a place where people can come be in their sexuality, because growing up as a woman or a girl, questioning my sexuality, I didn’t find community in that. I felt pretty isolated,” she said.  

As Kesha’s community — and those of LGBTQ+ and ENM dating apps — grows, this “niche” group of people seeking authenticity becomes less isolated every day.