Katy Perry was out and about over the weekend, which is a good thing because I’d hate to see her unnecessarily go into hiding after being given the brief tour of douche by John Mayer before he mercilessly dumped her. On the topic of John, he celebrated his freedom by cutting his nasty hair — too bad he couldn’t cut off the essence of douche too, right? Oh well.

Katy looks rather somber in these photos despite the fact that she was photographed at the SHOREbar where she threw a party for her friend Jon (Somebody), who is (for what it’s worth) the best friend Ronan Farrow (son of Mia and Woody). Katy is said to have partied at the bar until 2:00 am, and she’s shown holding the hand of jewelry designer Markus Molinari, who is supposedly her best friend and also held her hand on the red carpet in her first public appearance following her split from ex-husband Russell Brand. Another few factoids for you — Katy and Markus also celebrated his May birthday at the SHOREbar. Also, the Santa Monica hotspot was designed by Rosetta Getty. Small world.

Onto the story at hand, which follows the neverending saga of rotating “American Idol” judges. Back in early July, Katy was one of the names floating about for a potential judge pick, but then everyone forgot about that when Mariah Carey was hired to turn the program into “The Mariah Show.” Then Nicki Minaj was supposedly confirmed for a spot on the panel, but then Mariah threw a fit, and it turns out Nicki is not confirmed after all. Now TMZ is reporting (via a leak from Katy’s team?) that Katy was hotly pursued as a judge, and they offered her an even higher salary than what Mariah will receive. Uh-oh:

“American Idol” desperately wanted Katy Perry to fill one of its vacant judge’s seats, so much so, they offered her $20 MILLION … but she she still turned it down … TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the production tell TMZ … “Idol” pursued Perry relentlessly for weeks, eager to get her to sign on the dotted line. According to our sources, they started the offer at $18 million, but threw even more cash on the table … $20 MILLION for a one year contract!!!

We’re told Katy made it clear … she was NOT interested and money wasn’t the issue.

Sources tell us … aside from the fact that Katy’s schedule made it impossible to do the show … she just didn’t think it was right career choice for her.

Mariah must be one pissed, $18 million judge.

[From TMZ]

Okay, I can buy that “Idol” courted Katy, and I can also believe that she turned them down. Because — and I’m sorry if this sounds cruel — these sort of musical judging gigs appeal most to those pop culture figures who are in need of a career boost. Arguably, Katy is on top of her (semi-)musical game and coming off of the multiplatinum-selling Teenage Dream album, so she’s not in need of this sort of television job yet. Give her a few more years, and she might go there if her star starts to fade. Was Katy really offered a $20 million salary for one season though? That’s debatable.

As far as her professional life goes, Katy’s in a great spot. As far as her personal life goes, however, she could use a bit of time off for sure. She looks pretty drained in these photos, right? This is what happens when one makes the mistake of dating John Mayer.

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News