- Lady Gaga was sexually assaulted at 19 years old and recalled being dropped off on a corner while pregnant.
- She opened up about how this affected her mental and physical health.
- The singer, who looks forward to being a mom, sought treatment for her trauma, chronic physical pain, and mental health issues.
Lady Gaga in Hollywood, California on March 12, 2023 | Source: Getty Images
Lady Gaga is a Grammy Award-winning songstress who was born on March 28, 1986, in New York City. The singer was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta before she adopted her stage name, Lady Gaga.
Gaga has gone through a rough time to get to where she is today. In 2021, she opened up about her past trauma and its effect on her mental health and view towards motherhood. The singer said she was raped at 19.
Lady Gaga in Los Angeles, California on November 23, 2009 | Source: Getty Images
Gaga appeared on Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry’s docuseries “The Me You Can’t See” on Apple TV+, a docuseries focused on mental health conversations with experts and public figures.
During the singer’s episode, she narrated that she was working in the entertainment business, and a producer asked her to take her clothes off. Gaga refused the producer’s demands and advances, and they threatened to burn all her music. The producer was relentless, and she just froze and doesn’t even recall what happened.
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Gaga, who spoke about her trauma during the “Me Too” movement, said she respected that some survivors want to reveal the name of their attackers, but she wouldn’t do the same because she never wants to see the face of the person who sexually assaulted her again.
Lady Gaga in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2016 | Source: Getty Images
The “Bloody Mary” singer also said she never revealed she was raped even to the closest people in her life due to shame. After her 2016 Oscars performance, Gaga shared an Instagram post where she wrote that it took her years to tell her grandmother and aunt about being raped because she was too afraid:
“And it took me a long time to even admit it to myself because I’m Catholic, and I knew it was evil, but I thought it was my fault. I thought it was my fault for ten years.”
Lady Gaga in London, United Kingdom on November 09, 2021 | Source: Getty Images
When Gaga eventually told her aunt and grandmother, they were supportive and proud of her for opening up. Gaga noted that something she was so ashamed of and kept a secret for a long time became the thing that made the women she looked up to most proud of her.
Gaga said her healing journey hasn’t been straight. The singer noted that healing is an ongoing process as she can feel great for six months, but when she is triggered, she has to start all over again.
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In her candid conversation with Winfrey and Prince Harry, the singer also detailed how being a survivor of rape affected her mental health. Years after she was sexually assaulted, Gaga’s body and mind were still processing the trauma.
Lady Gaga in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2016 | Source: Getty Images
Gaga Spoke of the Lasting Effects of Her Sexual Assault
The “Shallow” singer said being assaulted sucked the life out of her to a point where she became a shell of her former self. Gaga, who attended Catholic school, said she thought that that’s how adults were after the sexual assault.
Lady Gaga in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on November 6, 2011 | Source: Getty
However, the mental effects didn’t hit Gaga immediately. She felt these effects four or five years after she was assaulted. The trauma hit her so hard because, for a while, she never wanted to admit that anything had happened to her.
Lady Gaga in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2016 | Source: Getty Images
Gaga didn’t want to be defined by the traumatic experience. The singer said she didn’t want people to give it credit for every creatively intelligent thing she had done over the years. Gaga took responsibility for her pain and turned her strife into something beautiful.
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Still, before she could get her footing, she went through a period of fear and mental trauma. One time, she saw her attacker in a store, and the encounter left her paralyzed with fear. Gaga said her attacker was so messed up because he even told people they used to date when he was 20 years older than her.
Lady Gaga in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2016 | Source: Getty Images
Nine years after Gaga’s attacker sexually assaulted her, her body went into shutdown, and she visited the hospital to seek treatment for the pain and numbness she was experiencing. Gaga recalled that she was sick for several weeks:
“I realized that it was the same pain that I felt when the person who raped me dropped me off pregnant on a corner at my parents’ house because I was vomiting and sick. Because I’d been being abused. I was locked away in a studio for months.”
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Gaga said the way she feels pain now when she is in pain is how she felt after she was assaulted. Doctors carried out several MRIs and scans but didn’t find any anomaly in her body. However, the pain and sickness was her body remembering the assault. Eventually, she was diagnosed with PTSD.
Lady Gaga at Odyssey Arena in Belfast on November 06, 2011 | Source: Getty Images
In September 2017, Gaga also announced on X, formerly Twitter, that she was in “severe pain” caused by fibromyalgia, a syndrome which she believes started due to her sexual assault and became worse due to the strains of touring and weight of her fame.
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The singer confessed that the assault caused her to have a psychotic break years later. Her whole body would go into a spasm, she would get a drop in her stomach, and she would have a hard time breathing as her diaphragm seized up.
Lady Gaga in New York City in 2015 | Source: Getty Images
Gaga also had impulses to self-harm, which she gave in to. The trauma made her feel like she was worthless and should die. She would scream and throw herself against the wall. The “Poker Face” singer said when she self-harmed, everything felt worse.
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Gaga thought by self-harming, people would see that she wasn’t okay, but they didn’t. She advised people to always tell somebody about their pain and trauma because self-harming wasn’t a way of seeking help. The singer also shared her healing journey and view towards motherhood.
Lady Gaga at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 | Source: Getty Images
Gaga’s Healing Journey and View Towards Motherhood
Gaga said her healing journey hasn’t been straight. The singer noted that healing is an ongoing process as she can feel great for six months, but when she is triggered, she has to start all over again. Triggers make the singer feel bad, to the point that she wants to self-harm and die.
Lady Gaga hugs a child in Taichung on July 3, 2011 | Source: Getty Images
Lady Gaga with young fans in New York City on November 21, 2011| Source: Getty Images
The 37-year-old now takes several medications to stay on board. Her other treatment cycles include meditation, radical-acceptance therapy, and self-care. Gaga said part of her healing journey was taking her trauma, sharing it with the world, and making the world a better place.
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Now, Gaga, who said she has lots of dreams and hopes, looks forward to marriage and motherhood. The singer said it’s incredible what women can do as they can hold a human inside them, grow it, and when it comes out, they keep it alive.
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Gaga wants to do more philanthropy by empowering young people and supporting mental health and wellness. She also wants to fund research on fibromyalgia and neuropathic and chronic pain. The singer, who said she wasn’t sure how all her dreams would come true, noted that all that matters is she would accomplish these by working with the people she loves.
