Lady Gaga didn’t feel that “fixing” the rumor that she was a man was in the “best interest” of others.
The “Bad Romance” hitmaker revealed why she consistently dodged questions about the claim during the early years of her career.
“The reason I didn’t answer the question was because I didn’t feel like a victim with that lie,” Gaga told Bill Gates in his new series, “What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates,” which dropped on Netflix Wednesday.
“But I thought about, what about a kid that’s being accused of that, that would think that a public figure like me would feel shame.”
In the billionaire’s new show tackling “the world’s most pressing issues,” Gaga explained that the rumor began in the 2010s after an altered image of herself went viral online.
“There was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored and they were like, ‘You know there’s this rumor that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?’” the Grammy winner recalled.
During her rise to fame, the “A Star Is Born” actress, 38, attempted to change the narrative when asked the question.
“I’ve been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of — I thought of the well-being of other people,” the pop star told Gates.
“So in that case, I tried to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way. I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point.”
Gaga previously dodged the question during a 2011 interview with Anderson Cooper.
“Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis?” the singer, then 24, said. “My fans don’t care and neither do I.”
Earlier in the same interview with Cooper, Gaga poked fun at the rumor about having a “male appendage,” saying, “Maybe I do. Would it be so terrible?”
Meanwhile, fans applauded the “Telephone” songstress on Wednesday after her comments in “What’s Next?” began circulating on social media.
“Truthfully her level of eloquence, long-term strategy, empathy and outright bravery is remarkable,” one admirer gushed on Instagram, while another wrote, “And that’s why Gaga is MOTHERRRR [sic].”
During Gaga’s conversation with Gates, she also emphasized that her performances are “more real” than any online rumors.
“People, I think, assume that someone like me who performs, that my performance is what’s not real. To me, that’s the most real thing that you’ll see about me,” she said“.
“That is so much more real than all of the rumors that are designed to orbit me to gain more clicks.”
