Katy Perry drops out of Chinese show due to family emergency

Katy Perry has dropped out of a gala appearance in China due to a family emergency.

The Firework singer was due to appear at the country's annual Singles' Day extravaganza, called the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival Gala, which is sponsored by e-commerce site Alibaba to kick off the country's biggest online shopping day of the year, on Thursday (10Nov16).

But early on Thursday, Katy, who was billed as the "global ambassador", pulled out of the event, and wrote a message to fans on Chinese social media site Weibo.

"Regretfully, I must cancel my appearance on the Alibaba Double 11 due to a family emergency. I am very sorry to disappoint my fans and look forward to seeing you in China soon," she announced.

Alibaba's representative responded in a statement to Billboard.com: “Alibaba and all her fans in China are naturally very disappointed. We would like to send Katy our best wishes at this difficult time, and hope that we can see her in China soon."

The pop star was due to appear at the star-studded event, which is held annually on Singles' Day, the Chinese equivalent to Cyber Monday, alongside One Republic and basketball legend Kobe Bryant. Retired soccer star David Beckham, who was in the city for the festival with wife Victoria, stepped in as a replacement.

It has been a tough week for Katy, who had been campaigning heavily for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, appearing in a number of promos and at rallies to promote Clinton and even spoke at her election night event in New York. Clinton was defeated in the election by rival Donald Trump on Tuesday (08Nov16).

After the election result, she tweeted, "Gonna cry my false eye lashes off tonight," and later told fans, "Do not sit still. Do not weep. MOVE. We are not a nation that will let HATE lead us."

She also turned her Twitter profile picture black and encouraged her followers to protest peacefully.