Lady Gaga Slams Music Industry During Emotional Speech

Lady Gaga gave an emotional speech on Friday, and called out the music industry on being sexist against female entertainers.

After receiving an award for Woman of the Year during Billboard’s Women in Music event, Lady Gaga made some poignant statements during her acceptance speech. The “Bad Romance” singer commented on the struggle that women in the music industry have to face. Lady Gaga compared the industry to a “boy’s club,” and made it clear that it isn’t easy for women trying to make it in music.

“What I really want to say is that it is really hard sometimes for women in music. It’s like a f—ing boys club that we just can’t get in to.”

Lady Gaga went on to talk about her struggle to earn the respect she deserved for her music. The singer turned actress made it clear that she had trouble gaining that respect for a while, and Lady Gaga felt as if those she worked with regarded her as inferior.

“I tried for so long, I just really wanted to be taken seriously as a musician for my intelligence more than my body ever in this business… You don’t always feel like when you’re working that people believe that you have musical background, that you understand what you’re doing because you’re a female.”

According to People, Lady Gaga received “roaring applause” during her stirring speech. The “Til It Happens To You” singer spoke about the importance of honoring women who create music. Lady Gaga said that she believes there is a female perspective that brings something to music that males can’t.

“Tonight is so important because women provide a wisdom to music that is very unique and special. It is a perspective that no other person can have because we bear life. And we go through things that no one goes through and more importantly because it’s right because we’re all equal.”

The points Lady Gaga make in her acceptance speech are obviously very personal to her, and the fact that she shared them with the world makes it clear how important those issues are to her. Recently, Lady Gaga opened up about another personal issue: she was sexually assaulted when she was 19-years-old.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Lady Gaga, 29-years-old, spoke about the trauma she experienced 10 years ago this past week during an interview on TimesTalk. The singer said that she did not speak of the attack for seven years after it happened, and blamed herself for a very long time.

“I didn’t tell anyone for, I think, seven years. I didn’t know how to think about it. I didn’t know how to accept it. I didn’t know how not to blame myself, or think it was my fault. It was something that really changed my life. It changed who I was completely.”

The trauma Lady Gaga experienced influenced her to get involved with The Hunting Ground, a documentary about sexual assault on college campuses. Lady Gaga, along with Diane Warren, wrote the song “Til It Happens To You”, a song about experiencing trauma.

“Me and Diane wanted to open the door to any person that went through any type of experience to know that I was okay to feel that way and to share that, and that you don’t have to maybe defend yourself so much because until it happens to you, they don’t know how it feels.”

The song is nominated for a Grammy award for 2016.

Lady Gaga is obviously very deserving of her award for Woman of the Year. Not only is she very passionate about the issues that are dear to her, but she is an incredibly talented singer and actress.

In addition to the Grammy nomination, Lady Gaga was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in American Horror Story.

[Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP]