Lady Gaga is opening up about why she never spoke out against rumors earlier in her career claiming she was actually a man.
The singer-actress famously shut down a question about the rumor during a 2011 interview with CNN, saying, “Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis? My fans don’t care and neither do I.” Years later, she’s getting candid about constantly navigating misinformation swirling about her online during an appearance on Netflix’s What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates.
“When I was in my early 20s there was a rumor that I was a man,” Lady Gaga told Bill Gates in the second episode. “I went all over the world. I traveled for tours and for promoting my records and almost every interview I sat in — there was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored — they were like, ‘There’s rumors that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?’”
The Joker: Folie à Deux star said she never answered the questions “because I didn’t feel like a victim with that lie and I thought: What about a kid who is being accused of that who would think that a public figure like me would feel shame?”
“I’ve been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of the well-being of other people,” she continued. “In that case, I tried to be thought provoking and disruptive in another way. I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point.”
Lady Gaga added that she’s “been used to lies being printed about me since I was 20 years old. I’m a performer. I think it’s kind of funny.”
The Grammy-winning singer was a major tour de force early in her music career, being known to take risks and disrupt the status quo. She later moved into Hollywood, showcasing her acting skills with her award-winning performance in 2018’s A Star Is Born. Lady Gaga now stars in the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux, due out Oct. 4.
