Lady Gaga Reveals Why She Never Denied Rumours That She Was A Man

19 September 2024, 12:05

By Sam Prance

At the start of Lady Gaga's career, multiple reporters asked her if she was trans and had a penis.

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Talented! Brilliant! Incredible! Amazing! Showstopping! Spectacular! Lady Gaga has just opened up about why she chose not to deny the rumours that she was trans and had a penis at the start of her career, and her answer is actually really moving.

Fans of Gaga will already be well aware that the singer was subject to multiple unsubstantiated rumours when she first rose to fame and many of them took on a life of their own. Notably, a theory that Lady Gaga had a penis went viral online - and she was asked about it in many interviews. However, instead of denying the claims, Lady Gaga had fun with it.

In a famous interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, he asked her about the rumour and Gaga's response has since gone down in pop culture history. She said: "Maybe I do. Would it be so terrible? Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis. My fans don't care and neither do I."

Now, Lady Gaga has revealed why it was important for her to leave the rumour in the open instead of giving a clear answer.

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Lady Gaga reveals why she never denied rumours that she was a man

Discussing misinformation with Bill Gates on Netflix's What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates, Lady Gaga said: "When I was in my early 20s, there was a rumour that I was a man. I went all over the world. I traveled for tours, for promoting my records. Almost every interview I sat in...they were like, 'There's this rumour that you're a man. What do you have to say about that?'"

Gaga also explained that there were photos of her on the internet at the time that had been "doctored" to make it look like she had a penis.

Explaining why she avoided answering the questions, Gaga said: "The reason I didn't answer the question was because I didn't feel like a victim with that lie. But I thought about what about a kid that's being accused of that, that would think a public figure like me would feel shame."

She then added: "I've been in situation where fixing a rumour was not in the best interest of, I thought of the well-being of other people. In that case, I tried to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way."

At the same time, there was an invasive media obsession with trans people's genitalia and many fans praised Gaga for helping normalise the fact that women can have penises and men can have vaginas.

Anderson Cooper interviews Lady Gaga for 60 MINUTES. Picture: CBS via Getty Images

Gaga ended by saying: "People assume that my performance is not real but to me that's the most real thing that you'll see about me. That is so much more real than all of the rumours that are designed to orbit me to gain more clicks."