Lady Gaga urges action against sexual assault

She has expressed that she ‘remains in chronic pain’ from her decade-old experience of rape, which took place before she became famous.

And now, Lady Gaga has teamed up with the former United States Vice President Joe Biden, to urge action against sexual assault.

The duo – who are ‘great friends’ – appeared in a Public Service Announcement together this week, as part of the It’s On Us campaign, launched by Biden and former President Barack Obama in 2014.

The program declares war on sexual assault on college campuses – something Gaga, 31, says is close to her heart.

‘I’m not only with a great friend, but a fierce advocate,’ Biden, 74, says of the Perfect Illusion singer.

‘Lady Gaga has been the voice for people who have been forgotten and people who have been abused … Well it happened to her. She’s shown enormous courage.

‘And we want to make it real clear. It’s on us, it’s on everyone to intervene; to stop abuse when they see it and when they hear about it, to intervene.

Great friends: The duo appeared in a Public Service Announcement together this week, as part of the It’s On Us campaign, launched by Biden and former President Barack Obama in 2014

Biden said: ‘Lady Gaga has been the voice for people who have been forgotten and people who have been abused … Well it happened to her. She’s shown enormous courage’

‘No man has a right to raise a hand to a woman for any reason other than self-defense. Ever. Period.’

Gaga adds: ‘I am a sexual assault survivor, and I know the effects, the aftermath, the trauma – psychological, physical, mental. It can be terrifying waking up every day feeling unsafe in your own body.

‘But we’re here to remind you that it’s important to reach out to someone in your life that you can trust, and to know that they will be there to help you.

‘There will be someone to listen. Because you know what? It’s on us.’

He went on: ‘And we want to make it real clear. It’s on us, it’s on everyone to intervene; to stop abuse when they see it and when they hear about it, to intervene’

A reminder: ‘We’re here to remind you that it’s important to reach out to someone in your life that you can trust, and to know that they will be there to help you’

Unsafe: ‘There will be someone to listen. Because you know what? It’s on us,’ she concluded in the PSA

The pair sit next to one another in the video, clearly very close in real life.

Gaga has previously revealed that she was raped by an older man when she was 19 but that the issue had been ‘swept under’ with people quickly moving on to other topics whenever she had brought it up.

‘People don’t know this about me because I don’t share it, and I know they see me as this kind of celebrity that has success and money and the world watching and that I must have no problems,’ she said, following a performance at The Oscars in 2016 that she did with survivors of rape.

At the time, Biden had introduced her to the stage and encouraged viewers to sign a pledge on the site itsonus.org.

A stirring performance: Lady Gaga performed on stage at the 88th Oscars on February 28 2016 in Hollywood

This triggered a surge of interest in the site and commits the signatory to intervene in situations when a person has not or cannot consent to sex.

‘I actually suffer from chronic pain all the time and it’s from this paralyzing fear that I’ve experienced for almost 10 years,’ she said at the time.

Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, said that she had compartmentalized the experience in the back of her mind but that it ‘stays in your body, in your tissues’.

She went on: ‘I feel physical pain, and there are a lot of people who suffer from chronic pain who have been through a traumatic experience.’

The pop star offered an emotional performance of her song Till It Happens To You at the 2016 Acadamy Awards with university students who have experienced rape joining her on stage with arms joined in solidarity.

Speaking out: The pop star offered an emotional performance of her song Till It Happens To You at the 2016 Acadamy Awards with university students who have experienced rape joining her on stage with arms joined in solidarity

As she was: Gaga, real name Stefani Germanotta, on an MTV show back in 2005, when she would have been about 19 – it was around this time that she was attacked

‘I was never such a wreck as I was the week before this performance,’ she said of the event. ‘[Being raped is] the thing that I am the most ashamed of in my life and I have always felt that it was my fault until this week.’

Gaga later got matching tattoos with some of the young people at the performance, who had come on stage with slogans written on their arms such as Not At All Your Fault and Unbreakable.

Gaga was nominated for an Oscar for the song which appears in The Hunting Ground – a documentary about rape on university campuses.

She first spoke about her past publicly in 2014 on The Howard Stern Show, confirming she was raped by a music producer 20 years her senior.

Taking action: Gaga has previously revealed that she was raped by an older man when she was 19 but that the issue had been ‘swept under’ with people quickly moving on to other topics whenever she had brought it up

Tribute: Gaga later got matching tattoos with some of the young people at the performance, who had come on stage with slogans written on their arms such as Not At All Your Fault and Unbreakable

When asked about the rape she initially said: ‘I don’t…I don’t want to… Happy times! Let’s talk about happy things!’

But when the radio host pressed her on the issue, she said: ‘I went through some horrific things that I’m able to laugh [at] now, because I’ve gone through a lot of mental and physical therapy and emotional therapy to heal over the years.

‘My music’s been wonderful for me. But, you know, I was a shell of my former self at one point. I was not myself.

‘To be fair, I was about 19. I went to Catholic school and then all this crazy stuff happened, and I was going, “Oh, is this just the way adults are?’…I was very naive.”‘ 

Standing together: Although Gaga did not name her attacker, speculation began to run rife that it was Dr Luke – who singer Kesha [R] filed a civil suit against in October 2014 for infliction of emotional distress, gender-based hate crimes and employment discrimination

Survivor: Kesha performed onstage at CBS RADIO’s We Can Survive 2017 at The Hollywood Bowl on October 21, 2017

Asked if she had ever confronted the rapist she said: ‘I think it would terrify me. It would paralyse me.

‘I saw him one time in a store and I was so paralysed by fear. Because it wasn’t until I was a little bit older that I went, “Wow, that was really messed up.”‘

The blonde didn’t tell anybody about the incident at the time, but eventually decided to seek help.

Honest: The blonde didn’t tell anybody about the incident at the time, but eventually decided to seek help

She said: ‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I didn’t tell anybody’

She said: ‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I didn’t tell anybody.

‘And I didn’t even tell myself for the longest time. And then I was like, “You know what? All this drinking and all this nonsense, you have to go to the source, otherwise it just won’t go away. It will not go away.”‘

Although Gaga did not name her attacker, speculation began to run rife that it was Dr Luke – who singer Kesha filed a civil suit against in October 2014 for infliction of emotional distress, gender-based hate crimes and employment discrimination.

Representatives for Gaga were later forced to deny claims by Kesha’s lawyer that music producer Dr Luke was the man responsible.

Allegations: Representatives for Gaga were later forced to deny claims by Kesha’s lawyer that music producer Dr Luke was the man responsible

Taking action: Attorney Mark Geragos tweeted, ‘Guess who the rapist was?’ And when a fan asked if it was Dr Luke, he responded ‘#bingo’

Attorney Mark Geragos tweeted, ‘Guess who the rapist was?’ And when a fan asked if it was Dr Luke, he responded ‘#bingo.’

Lady Gaga’s representative told TMZ the allegations are ‘absolutely not true’ although refused to comment on the identity of the attacker. 

A representative for Dr Luke, real name Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald, told the website: ‘Mark Geragos’ statement is completely false and defamatory. Luke met Lady Gaga twice for less than half an hour total in those two meetings combined. He has never been alone with her and never touched her. Neither meeting was in that time frame reported.’

But Mr Geragos stood by his allegations, telling TMZ: ‘I said it because it’s true’. He mentioned the Bill Cosby allegations have ‘now made others more courageous about coming out.’

If you’ve been affected by sexual abuse, call SafeLine on 0808 800 5008.