Lady Gaga Discusses Her Silence on Man Rumors: “I Thought of the Well-Being of Other People”

Lady Gaga recently shed light on why she chose not to dispel the rumors about her being a man during the early days of her career. This revelation came in the second episode of Netflix’s What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates, which premiered on the streaming platform on September 18, 2023.

In her conversation with Gates, she expressed that she “didn’t feel like a victim”regarding the false claims about her gender, and thus, did not find it necessary to address the speculation back then. Lady Gaga elaborated:

“I’ve been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of—I thought of the well-being of other people. So in that case, I tried to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way.”

The iconic singer, born Stefani Germanotta, previously tackled the same “Lady Gaga is a Man”rumor during a 2011 interview with Anderson Cooper, where she opted not to provide a direct answer. She commented that she wouldn’t waste her time on such a baseless rumor since “my fans don’t care and neither do I.”

Lady Gaga Reveals Origins of the Man Rumors in Her 20s

During her segment on What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates, Lady Gaga reflected on how she’s “used to lies being printed”about her since she was just 20 years old. Interestingly, she finds reading these false narratives to be “kind of funny.”Gaga mentioned that she encountered questions about her gender in “almost every interview”she participated in.

“When I was in my early 20s, there was a rumor that I was a man. I went all over the world. I traveled for yours 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 rumors gained traction after images of the “Telephone”singer from the 2009 Glastonbury music festival circulated online. Rather than shying away from the speculation, Lady Gaga told Bill Gates:

“I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point. People, I think, assume that someone like me that performs that my performance is what’s not real, but to me, that’s the most real thing that you’ll see about me.”

Following the viral spread of her Glastonbury photos, Gaga even dressed as a man for the cover of Vogue Hommes Japan in 2010, introducing her alter ego, Jo Calderone. She further showcased the same Drag King persona in her “You and I”music video and during her hosting appearance at the 2011 VMAs.

Earlier in the episode, the Emmy-nominated artist candidly discussed the risks associated with the close interplay of entertainment and information in today’s world. She emphasized how “entertainment as a form of manipulation”significantly influences her career.

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