Lady Gaga
She has never spoken so openly about sexual abuse
© Getty Images
Lady Gaga was silent for seven years until she could speak openly about the abuse she had experienced. In the documentary series “The Me You Can’t See” the singer reflects on the rape and the physical and psychological consequences that have remained as scars to this day.
Lady Gaga was 19 years old when a music producer asked her to undress. When the up-and-coming artist’s answer was “No”, what happened was what will be with the now 35-year-old for the rest of her life. Lady Gaga was raped. “I was frozen and I can’t even remember”, explains the singer in the new documentary series “The Me You Can’t See” with Oprah Winfrey, 66. The deed determined her life from then on – not just mentally, but also physically. Because Lady Gaga becomes pregnant by her rapist.
Lady Gaga: “It changed me completely”
There are descriptions of the musician that trigger pain and a lump in the throat just by listening. Lady Gaga describes how her own pain turned into numbness in the Apple TV series. “And then I was sick for weeks and weeks and weeks after that, and I realized it was the same pain I felt when the person who raped me left me pregnant on a corner,” said Gaga tearfully .
The singer still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. After the sexual abuse, there was not only a feeling of helplessness, but mostly guilt. “I didn’t know how I shouldn’t blame myself or think that it was my fault. It was something that really changed my life. It changed me completely,” said the 35-year-old, describing her inner struggle after the Did once against “TalkTimes”.
Apple TV + documentary series “The Me You Can’t See”
© Apple TV
Lady Gaga remains silent about the name of her rapist to this day
It is a carousel of thoughts that then haunts many of those affected. “Was it the clothes?” or “Did I do something that gave him the right to do so?” – all these are thoughts that also overwhelmed Lady Gaga. “Because of my clothes and my provocative demeanor, I thought that I somehow got it on myself – that it was my fault,” admits the “Pokerface” interpreter. Lady Gaga continues to keep the music producer’s name a secret. Not because she wants to protect him, but because the thought of ever having to meet him again is unbearable.
The open treatment of Lady Gaga and other abuse victims is courageous, strong and admirable. At the same time, the shock remains. About the fact that such acts are not uncommon in the entertainment business. But much more about the fact that victims look to themselves to blame. Triggered by questioning, by people who question such statements and often also by the police, who with questions like “What were you wearing?” imputed to a victim guilt. “Do you know what it is like for survivors? Do you know what it is like to tell people?” Asks Lady Gaga, who has been with what happened throughout her life. “It changed me completely.”
Sources used: thesun.co.uk, “The Me You Can’t See”