Following Lady Gaga’s critically-acclaimed performance in A Star is Born, it’s not surprising that the 32-year-old was recognized as one of ELLE Magazine’s Women of Hollywood. At the awards ceremony held on Monday night, Gaga, dressed in an oversized Marc Jacobs suit, delivered a moving speech. She discussed a sexual assault by an unnamed man “in the entertainment industry” that occurred when she was just 19, and has left her with long term physical and emotional pain.
During the 25-minute speech, Gaga gave an in-depth explanation as to her outfit choice for the event:
”I tried on dress after dress today getting ready for this event, one tight corset after another, one heel after another, a diamond, a feather, thousands of beaded fabrics and the most beautiful silks in the world. To be honest, I felt sick to my stomach. And I asked myself: What does it really mean to be a woman in Hollywood? We are not just objects to entertain the world. We are not simply images to bring smiles or grimaces to people’s faces. We are not members of a giant beauty pageant meant to be pit against one another for the pleasure of the public. We are women in Hollywood, we are voices. We have deep thoughts and ideas and beliefs and values about the world and we have the power to speak and be heard and fight back when we are silenced.
So, after trying 10 or so dresses, with a sad feeling in my heart, that all that would matter was what I wore to this red carpet, I saw an oversized Marc Jacobs suit buried quietly in the corner. I put it on to a resounding view of eyes glaring at me in confusion.But the Rodarte was so beautiful! one said. But the Raf Simons for Calvin Klein was so stunning on you! said another. But what about the Brandon Maxwell? What about the Dior? Lots of questions. They were all dresses. This was an oversized men’s suit made for a woman. Not a gown. And then I began to cry. In this suit, I felt like me today. In this suit, I felt the truth of who I am well up in my gut. And then wondering what I wanted to say tonight become very clear to me.
As a sexual assault survivor by someone in the entertainment industry, as a woman who is still not brave enough to say his name, as a woman who lives with chronic pain, as a woman who was conditioned at a very young age to listen to what men told me to do, I decided today I wanted to take the power back. Today I wear the pants.
She went on to say that after the assault, “part of me shut down for many years” and detailed her struggles with PTSD and Fibromyalgia. She implored the women in the room “to work together…to heal each other. And we can also try to find the strength in the best way that we can to ask for help when we need it.” And, as an outspoken advocate for mental health education, she said it was her “personal dream” to have a mental health professional installed in every school in the nation and around the world. She challenged the audience to “lift our voices,” adding,
I know we are, but let’s get louder. And not just as women. But as humans. And see that there are great men in the world. And ask them to hold our hands. For justice. That our voices be heard. Whatever our story may be. For an equal standing. We will fight for justice for women and men and those with other sexual identities. For me, this is what it means to be a woman in Hollywood. It means, I have a platform. I have a chance to make a change. I pray we listen and believe and pay closer attention to those around us to those in need….Be a helping hand. Be a force for change.”
After her emotional comments which brought the audience to tears, Gaga thanked many people, including her “fiancé Christian.” It was the first time she has publicly acknowledged that she and talent agent Christian Carino, whom she’s been dating since February of 2017, are engaged. But, we all kind of knew they were engaged long before this.
Even if you’re not a Lady Gaga stan like I am, you have to admit that she is really trying to use her voice to effect some positive change. I admire her for sharing her story, being so honest and forthright and helping inspire others to do the same.
Photos: Getty, WENN
Her makeup is scary. I wonder why people want their forehead and cheeks to be such different shades. Like why would you deliberately give yourself an uneven skintone?
Well, partially because a perfectly even skintone isn’t that realistic looking. But I think the problem here is largely back flash from the camera making the difference look more severe. The photo where she’s looking up at the man in the photo it’s much less noticeable.
That’s your takeaway? I think you just made Gaga’s point.
Well my point is that Gaga is all talk. How is she going to make a speech like that when she works with R. Kelly and Terry richardson? The hypocrisy is unbelievable. And since her words are worthless the only other thing i can comment on is her distracting makeup.
Photos have a tendency to flatten features because you’re impressing a 3D image onto a 2D medium. (That’s what causes the “camera adds ten pounds” effect, actually.) Contouring is popular in modeling and photography because it not only “thins” out of the look of the face but also maintains the dimensions of your features, letting the “shadows” (i.e. darker contours) make the nose, cheekbones, and eye shape more noticeable.
“And since her words are worthless the only other thing i can comment on is her distracting makeup.”
Since her words are worthless? Are yours of value?
“The only other thing I can comment on is her distracting makeup”…..Are you being forced to comment? Should we contact the police?
Gaga’s collaboration with R. Kelly was absolutely problematic. It was also several years ago. Are artists allowed to change? Evolve? Would Gaga work with him again? I highly doubt it.
my actions are of value. I would never work with a predator. Why should I apologize for disliking people who do?
Yeah her lip makeup is pretty bad. I was wondering what her artist was thinking today!
Thank you, Lady Gaga.
I hope all women reading this will never have to deal with assault (again).
Here’s a video of her speech for anyone who wants to watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afceSthNspU
I’ve always liked Lady Gaga. She can belt out a tune and she is super unique. I love that she is trying to use her voice to create positive change. The cause she is advocating for is legit and necessary and I have no doubt she means every word she says. But I have to side eye this part of her speech: “We are not just objects to entertain the world. We are not simply images to bring smiles or grimaces to people’s faces. We are not members of a giant beauty pageant meant to be pit against one another for the pleasure of the public.”
Didn’t see spend her entire career up until maybe last year wearing provocative elaborate outfits? It just seems… hypocritical maybe?
While I understand Your point, people change. People grow and evolve. Also, there’s a difference between wearing something sexy because you want to and wearing it because you feel like you have to.
I totally agree people evolve and change with time. I’m really not trying to be insulting towards her! I do raise an eyebrow when that growth and change seems to happen when a celebrity is promoting something.
I completely agree that she has grown and changed. She is my age, and when she started gaining fame, I remember what a dumbass I was. I know I am so different from myself in my early twenties. I have to give her a pass for not being fully formed back then, too.
Exactly, Crowhood. It’s just like how a woman can enjoy sex on her own terms and have lots of it, but still speak out about women being sexually harassed or pressured to please others by having sex they don’t want.
Will she ever explain her collaboration with R Kelly? Can’t take her seriously right now.
And her friendship with Terry Richardson .Even if she took distance with him recently
I’ll tell you what; I’ll say she should be asked about this as soon as:
Bradley Cooper is asked about Harvey Weinstein (who ran his first Oscar campaign and got him a nomination. He’s never commented to my knowledge).
Harrison Ford is asked about his 30+ year friendship with child rapist Roman Polanski (still friends as far as I know).
Hugh Jackman has to comment about Bryan Singer.
Until then we can’t take any of them seriously, even where they speak well and truthfully. I’ve decided to flip the game and give women the advantage (even where not deserved. Working with R Kelly is gross). Men have had it for too long; now they have to answer first.
While all the that is true, and those men should be asked about their abusive friends and colleagues…I think Gaga should answer for the r Kelly thing too. She’s an advocate for sexual abuse survivors and always talks about her own assault, that’s the difference between her and Bradley cooper and the other men u listed.
No, no, she doesn’t want to distract from the importance of the message and speak over others so that’s why she hasn’t commented.
(At least that’s what people would say if she was a male celebrity. So I’m saying it. 🤷♀️)
@Mia4s You’re the reason I rarely comment on CB because you always express perfectly what I want to say lol. But I’m gonna have to slightly disagree here. R Kelly is a certified predator and she collaborated with him not too long ago. Everything that’s awful about him is out there.
The rest of your comments is 100% true. For example I give Meryl, JLaw etc…a complete pass about Harvey. His behaviour is not their problem and they shouldn’t be asked about it. And definitely shouldn’t be held accountable to anything.
Bradley Cooper never had to answer questions about his very close friendship with Weinstein. His very close friendship with former pimp James Lipton is also questionable. Why Jon Peters, who has been sued for sexual harassment several times, was on the set of A Star Is Born with Cooper last year ?
Why Hugh Jackman has maintened friendship with Bryan Singer ?
Why actors still work with Woody Allen ?
Thanks for that @Diana, and to be clear, I’m disgusted she worked with R Kelly. It’s more in my slightly sarcastic way to point out that there is always an excuse offered to the men (…well…the white ones anyway), while women who are highly imperfect but saying the right thing are immediately called into question and dismissed. In a perfect world EVERYONE should be called out, but since that is not and does not happen, I’m going to give the pass to women for awhile.
So happy for her. She’s growing on me lately.
The speech sounds powerful…I like that she told her story about the outfits, and “oversized” doesn’t begin to describe that suit. She’s swimming in it! Wearing a camisole under the jacket would have worked better for me. Anyway, let’s see what she does next. Shape-shifting has always been part of her schtick. I wonder: How will the image change?
She went with the wrong angle here. Styled like a Kardashian and she is all about image, red carpet looks, etc.
Yeah, at first I thought it was some deep commentary about them, but guess not.
Thought it was Kim Kardashianbased on the cover photo.I actually think she looks great though,and her message is what it’s about anyway,but I really like her less platinum and less made up in crazy dresses.
Loved her speech, it really moved me.
I agree. She seems very sincere.
I really liked her first face. She seemed like an Italian New Yorker with attitude who embraced her looks in the beginning of her career. Her message is powerful but I agree, she’s physically morphed into all that she seems to be fighting against and its falling a bit flat.
It’s funny, looking at the juxtaposition of the post about Amy Winehouse and the post about Gaga, it reminded me that Gaga used to kind of resemble Amy back in the day, before she altered her entire face.
I think the speech was good even though I’m not a fan.
I’m not a fan and usually find her tedious (Kaiser’s word, I believe) but this was moving. I honestly would not have known it was her, though. She looks so different.
Agree
Love the suit, don’t like the make-up.
I like her message here but overall find her annoying and exhausting. Don’t care for her style at all (this suit is awful) and her music was good when she first came out, but now it’s just generic like every other pop song.
Shallow comment: Please stop messing with your lips, Gaga. I love you, but they’re are bordering on Kardashian levels right now.
Less shallow comment: I love her and have always been a Gaga Believer (TM). I’m glad that she’s using her voice to speak out and encourage others to do the same. She’s grown a lot since her early years, and I think she’s getting better at sending out a message without accidentally stepping on toes.
I recently read about a very interesting connection between fibromyalgia, which I believe Gaga suffers from, and sexual assault. Apparently a large number of women who experience fibromylagia have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. My mother has fibro and recently opened up to me about a couple of times she was assaulted when she was young. These were situations as well where she felt she could not tell anyone (family member by marriage sort of thing).
Could it be that internalizing this pain and secrecy from assault for a lifetime could develop into a chronic pain issue? It just makes sense to me and is just one more of many reasons why women need to be listened to, need to be allowed to be heard safely, and need to be able to seek help right when these abuses happen, and not have to let them fester until they cause illness and pain, physical and/or mental.
Even made up as Kim K., she’s a million times lovelier and more authentic than Kim K. And she’s right: our bodies are not for sale, a territory to be plundered, mocked because we don’t live within the stultifying constraints of the “ladylike”. Werde, bir du bist! Become what you are! (Please, I beg you, don’t correct my German…! )
Over the past 10 years since she came onto the scene (it was 2008 and I remember because I was studying abroad in Spain in college when Just Dance hit the airwaves, it was her first single), Lady Gaga has really grown on me. At first her shtick of wearing ridiculous outfits and this weird mysterious Gaga persona really annoyed me though I loved her music. She still does that sometimes but once she became a pop star and entrenched in pop culture, she showed us she isn’t just a pop star and she has been an ally from the start for the LGBT community and an activist for sexual assault survivors (in fact she co-wrote a whole song about it for a documentary about campus rape). I like this version of her better, she’s more approachable and relatable.
I really did like her with Taylor Kinney but I wish her success in this new engagement I guess? The guy’s so much older than her, I think he’s almost 50.
I have to wonder what Taylor is thinking about all of her rave reviews and Oscar buzz for her movie. I wonder if her signing on to do this movie was too much for his ego. They broke up in July 2016, and it was announced that she was cast in ASIB in August 2016. It seems perhaps like she bested him at his own dream, and he couldn’t deal.
In her documentary she said, ” “I sold 10 million (records) and lost Matt. I sold 30 million and lost Luke. I did a movie and lose Taylor. It’s like a turnover. This is the third time I’ve had my heart broken like this.”