Lady Gaga recalls PTSD after being ‘raped repeatedly’ aged 19
Singer discussed her mental health at length in a new interview with Oprah Winfrey
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Lady Gaga has discussed the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) she suffered after being “raped repeatedly” at the age of 19.
The singer talked at length about her mental health in an interview with Oprah Winfrey as part of the presenter’s 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus tour.
“I was raped repeatedly when I was 19 years old,” said Gaga, “and I also developed PTSD as a result of being raped and also not processing that trauma.”
Gaga said the abuse was carried out by someone she knew. “I all of a sudden became a star and was travelling the world going from hotel room to garage to limo to stage, and I never dealt with it, and then all of a sudden I started to experience this incredible intense pain throughout my entire body that mimicked the illness I felt after I was raped.”
In 2019, Gaga apologised for collaborating with R Kelly following his arrest for multiple counts of sexual assault against young women. The pair had worked together on the 2013 song “Do What U Want (With My Body)”.
At the time, she posted a statement on social media saying the allegations she had heard against Kelly were “absolutely horrifying and indefensible”.
“As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made both the song and video at a dark time in my life,” she wrote.
During the hour-long interview with Winfrey, Gaga also discussed her battle with fibromyalgia and the romance rumours surrounding her and Bradley Cooper, who she starred alongside in A Star is Born.
“We did a really good job at fooling everyone,” she said. “We created that.”
Winfrey’s 2020 Vision tour is set to feature conversations with Tina Fey, Jennifer Lopez and Michelle Obama.