He says: ‘I love her so deeply.’ She calls him ‘the love of my life’. Their duet at the Oscars was all neck nuzzles, come-hither eyes and little smirks of mutual understanding.
If whatever is passing between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga is just friendship, then maybe they both deserve an Oscar this year. Since their duet on Shallow from their film A Star Is Born at this week’s Academy Awards, the internet has talked of little else.
The drama was nearly as captivating as their erotically-charged performance
It doesn’t help that Gaga has just split from fiance Christian Carino and that Bradley’s supermodel girlfriend Irina Shayk watched their lovey-dovey performance with an arctic glare.
Bradley’s ex-wife Jennifer Esposito created a storm when she responded ‘Ha!’ to a Twitter user who asked: ‘Is there any chance that these two aren’t ****ing?’ It then emerged Irina — whose daughter, Lea, with Cooper is nearly two — had unfollowed Gaga on social media just before the Oscars.
The dynamic between the three of them is gruesomely captivating.
After the duet, Gaga and Bradley returned to their seats — and ended up chatting across Ms Shayk seated between them. The drama was nearly as captivating as their erotically-charged performance.
Pop star turned actress Gaga, 32, made her feelings on the imbroglio known with eye rolls and invective on the Jimmy Kimmel TV show four days later.
‘First of all, social media, quite frankly is the toilet of the internet,’ she said. ‘And what it has done to pop culture is abysmal. Yes, people saw love and guess what? That’s what we wanted you to see. This is a love song. The movie A Star Is Born is a love story. It was so important to both of us that we were connected the entire time.’
But even a cynic would struggle to believe the Gaga-Bradley connection is a just-for-the-cameras pairing, not least because both have spent six months talking about how exceedingly well they hit it off.
Bradley, 44, has been persuasive on the subject of their chemistry. He said: ‘Lady Gaga is just a kind of a revelation. She entrusted me with giving herself so she could reveal herself to be the actress that she is and I entrusted her that I would be able to become the musician that I was terrified to be.
‘She knows everything about me — everything.’ He added: ‘I love her so deeply. It’s because we were at our most vulnerable together.’
Here’s how Bradley and the superstar singer went Gaga for each other . . .
Bike ride and a dinner date
April 29, 2016: Bradley and Gaga went to dinner at the Giorgio Baldi Italian restaurant in Santa Monica
Before her casting was announced, Bradley and Gaga had a romantic-looking dinner at the Giorgio Baldi Italian restaurant in Santa Monica.
They roared up on Bradley’s Ducati motorbike, her wearing a black leather biker jacket and studded black boots.
Gaga, real name, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, had been engaged for 14 months to actor Taylor Kinney while Bradley had been dating Russian model Irina Shayk for around a year.
They had met a few weeks before the dinner at a Sean Parker charity event where Gaga sang La Vie En Rose. Bradley later said: ‘I was at a cancer benefit with my mother. I really did not know Lady Gaga’s music. They had a surprise musical guest, and Stefani came out with her hair slicked back. I was blown away.
‘I called her agent and said, “Can I go to her house and meet her right away?” I drove to Malibu, and we sat on her porch, and the next thing I know, I’m eating spaghetti and meatballs, and I said, “Can we sing a song together?”’
She said: ‘We had instant chemistry. As soon as I saw him, it was like, ‘You hungry?’ Before I knew it, I was heating up some leftovers for him.’
Cosy shopping trip
September 4, 2016: During rehearsals for A Star is Born the pair were seen grocery shopping together in Malibu
By now, the pair were rehearsing for A Star Is Born and were seen grocery shopping together in Malibu. Gaga wore tiny shorts and a vest, and they looked very comfortable together. She had also split from Taylor Kinney after their five-year romance.
She said: ‘My threshold for b******* with men is just — I don’t have one any more. In relationships, you have to move together.’
Brad goes backstage
October 23, 2016: Bradley Cooper showed up backstage at U.S. TV show Saturday Night Live where Gaga was booked for a guest appearance
Gaga was booked for a guest appearance on U.S. TV show Saturday Night Live and who showed up backstage but…Bradley Cooper.
She shared this picture on Instagram with her 34 million followers and invited them to notice how close they were becoming.
She said: ‘Look who showed up to watch me perform! What a guy. Talkin’ creative and enjoying some backstage fun.’
A kiss on camera
April 17, 2017: Gaga, fresh from headlining at Coachella music festival looked almost unrecognisable with brown hair
Well-informed photographers captured the couple filming of a passionate scene for A Star Is Born at a petrol station in California.
Gaga, fresh from headlining at the Coachella music festival, looked nearly unrecognisable with her brown hair. For a new father, Bradley certainly managed to deliver a passionate-looking clinch.
Pulling off the perfect premiere
August 30, 2018: Gaga wowed the red carpet in Venice in a feathered Valentino Couture dress
Here’s the look that says: ‘You nailed the outfit for the movie premiere, baby.’
Gaga wowed the red carpet in Venice in a feathered Valentino Couture dress. The film got an eight-minute standing ovation and an Oscar buzz around Gaga and Bradley was born.
Meanwhile, she had started dating her talent agent Christian Carino, in February 2018.
By July she had announced that they were engaged. Her ring featured a six-carat pink sapphire said to be worth around £300,000.
In turn, her fiance had a picture of Gaga’s face tattooed on his arm. She and Carino left Venice together, arm in arm by water taxi.
Romance unveiled?
September 9, 2018: Lady Gaga and 49-year-old Christian Carino called off their engagement earlier this year
Another tender moment, this time at the Toronto Film Festival.
Bradley lifted Gaga’s veil in a bride and groom moment that elicited a seemingly molten look of desire from his co-star.
She was later pictured leaving the post-premiere party with a thoughtful-looking fiance, Christian.
London love-in
Septembr 27, 2018: Bradley and Gaga kiss at the London premiere of A Star is Born
More kisses, this time at the London premiere of A Star Is Born.
Bradley said: ‘As great as this movie was, the thing that I think I’ll take away forever is the relationship I have with her because she is an incredible person.
‘I’m very lucky to have worked with her.
Gaga responded: ‘He’s such a wonderful person. He says it to me in the movie, he says, “All you gotta do is trust me.”
‘I trusted him the whole time.
‘He pulled things out of me that I never thought that I even had.’
…and Brad’s model missus seems miffed
February 25, 2019: Bradley’s supermodel girlfriend Irina Shayk posts a moody selfie on social media
It’s the day after that Oscars duet, and it appears Bradley’s supermodel girlfriend seems thoroughly fed up with the attention surrounding her boyfriend’s connection with Lady Gaga. And doesn’t it show on her face in this Instagram post?
A source said: ‘The stories about Irina being sick of Gaga have some truth to them — it’s not that she dislikes Gaga or is jealous of her, but she’s sick of the constant stories about her “close” relationship to Bradley.
‘It’s been a long publicity campaign and she’s ready for it to end.’
Duet to set the world on fire
February 24, 2019: Body language expert Patti Wood said their Oscars gaze indicated ‘a longing to touch’
The steamy duet at the Oscars on Sunday, where Shallow won Best Original Song, had been rehearsed a month earlier when Bradley joined Gaga on stage during her Las Vegas residency.
Body language expert Patti Wood said their Oscars gaze indicated a ‘longing to touch’ while colleague Blanca Cobb added: ‘When they look at each other, it’s as if they’re looking into each other’s souls.’
During the ceremony, Bradley and Gaga leaned forward to chat with each other, awkwardly ignoring his girlfriend Irina seated between them. Gaga had split with her fiance Christian just the week before. She certainly seemed to mask her heartbreak rather brilliantly.