In what one may consider one of the biggest ironic events in the entertainment industry, Lady Gaga is up for an Oscar for a song she allegedly co-wrote (Linda Perry tweeted she only contributed a couple words, then deleted the tweet) with Diane Warren called “ Til It Happens To You .” The song is about sexual assault, which Gaga claims she had been a victim of.
Lady Gaga has put herself on the forefront of the #FreeKesha movement, posting selfies with Kesha Rose, who has not only accused Dr. Luke of rape, but demands that she be released from her contract from Sony — something a judge has refused to grant.
While some may consider Gaga’s sudden interest in the rape culture movement sincere, several have called the singer out on what they consider hypocrisy, especially since Lady Gaga has made a career out of working with accused sexual predators. The video for the song “Do What You Want With My Body,” co-starring R. Kelly and Terry Richardson, both who have been accused (but never officially charged) of similar things Kesha is accusing Dr. Luke of, has reappeared on YouTube . The video keeps disappearing, probably due to Gaga’s management.
In the video, R. Kelly plays a doctor who, before putting Lady Gaga to sleep, feels her up in some private places. In another clip of the video that hasn’t been seen by the public, he tells her, “I’m putting you under, and when you wake up, you’re going to be pregnant.”
The video also features Lady Gaga frolicking around naked as Terry Richardson takes pictures of her. Some feel Lady Gaga shouldn’t launch accusations at Dr. Luke or pretend to be the spokesperson about sexual abuse until she talks about this video and other projects she has worked on with these two men. Her former friend, Perez Hilton, is one of those people.
@ladygaga @TheDoctorLuke @KeshaRose Should @SonyMusicGlobal also free your duet partner @rkelly from his contract? #FreeRKelly
— Perez (@ThePerezHilton) February 27, 2016
There are many others on Twitter who consider Gaga hypocritical.
Mark Dice: Lady Gaga HELPS Alleged Sexual Predators – Oscars Performance of ‘Til it Happens to You’ HYPOCRISY! – https://t.co/gVyqYC3qXn #…
— Daniel Hermsdorf (@filmdenkende) February 26, 2016
There is also a petition set up at Change.org from a woman who allegedly worked on Lady Gaga’s video with R. Kelly and Terry Richardson. She claims she was raped on the set of the video and is asking for President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to stop rewarding hypocritical behavior.
There are some people who are also accusing Lady Gaga of lying about being raped in order to further her career. However, that could be considered victim shaming. Though there is no direct proof, Lady Gaga has hinted throughout her career that she was taken advantage of at a young age. Then, according to the Daily Times, she revealed that she wrote the song “Swine,” featured on ARTPOP , about her outrage over being sexually assaulted. Gaga said it didn’t affect her as much right after as it did four or five years later.
Though Gaga is likely speaking from experience, the movie The Hunting Ground, which her Oscar-nominated song comes from, has been accused by several for being less than truthful. According to the College Fix ,African-American and feminist law professors call the film a piece of propaganda.
It’s obvious that rape is a serious issue that needs more discussion. It’s okay if Lady Gaga wants to speak about the issue. However, she may want to finally talk about her years of work with men who haven’t been known to be kind to other women they work with.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]