Lady Gaga’s Family Only Learned Of Her Sexual Assault During Her Oscars Performance
Lady Gaga revealed that her family learned about her sexual assault during the Oscars performance, as reported by Today. During her performance at last Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony,the “Poker Face” singer revealed that she is one of many sexual assault survivors.
Aapparently, Lady Gaga kept this fact a secret from her own family, and they learned about her sexual assault that happened at the age of 19 only during her Oscars performance of “Til it Happens To You.”
That performance was intended as an anthem for survivors of sexual abuse and assault, and Lady Gaga, having gone through it herself, delivered a very powerful message to the entire world. At the end of her performance, the “Bad Romance” singer was joined by dozens of sexual assault survivors who walked to the edge of the stage.
Lady Gaga revealed that her entire family had learned about the fact she was raped during the Oscars performance in an Instagram post on Wednesday. The day after the ceremony, Lady Gaga received a phone call from her grandmother and aunt to talk about it. The “Born This Way” singer never told her family she was a sexual assault survivor because she was “too ashamed” and “too afraid,” as said by Gaga herself.
“And it took me a long time to even admit it to myself because I’m Catholic and I knew it was evil but I thought it was my fault. I thought it was my fault for 10 years.”
For last Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, Lady Gaga had a special new tattoo done on her body, according to People. It’s a tattoo that she now shares with all the sexual assault victims who joined the singer on stage during her powerful performance.
On Friday, Lady Gaga shared a picture of her new tattoo as well as the whole process of having that tattoo done via Instagram. The singer also revealed that she “made a pact” with the survivors during rehearsals.
Lady Gaga’s new tattoo was completed by tattoo artist David Allen, who on Friday posted an Instagram picture featuring himself next to freshly-tattooed Gaga. The caption read, “Honored to tattoo a symbol of ‘unity’ on @ladygaga today. An image of solidarity for survivors of sexual assault.”
Allen tattooed Lady Gaga at Pioneer Tattoo in Chicago, while many other sexual assault victims joined the singer and also took to Twitter and Instagram to share their new ink. As many as 50 sexual assault victims took part during Gaga’s Oscars performance. According to People, Gaga spent long hours at rehearsals to get to know all the sexual assault survivors that would join her on stage.
The survivors on stage—including Lady Gaga—have gotten matching tattoos in solidarity. @ladygaga???? pic.twitter.com/wZvXrRqfBT
— GAGA FOLLOW ME PLS! (@elverurbina1) March 4, 2016
Amy Ziering, a producer on The Hunting Ground, the film where Lady Gaga’s powerful song “Til it Happens To You” is featured, told People that the Poker Face singer “formed a unique and meaningful bond” with the survivors.
“Many of them told me that speaking with her and hearing her share her story and what she’d learned was healing and life-changing.”
Annie E. Clark, the executive director of End Rape on Campus who put together Lady Gaga’s Oscars performance, revealed in her interview with People that the whole process was “very emotional.”
“Most of these people had not come out as survivors yet. Some people had told a few close friends, maybe family, but had never done intense media, and weren’t in the film. It was really awesome because there was such of a mix of experiences of people.”
On Thursday, Lady Gaga posted a number of tweets featuring images and powerful phrases with hashtags #FreeEveryWoman and #FreeKesha.
#FreeEveryWoman #FreeKesha pic.twitter.com/9Vxea77RHO
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) March 3, 2016
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) March 3, 2016
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) March 3, 2016
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
