Lady Gaga Reveals Why She Never Denied Rumors That She Was A Man

Lady Gaga has finally addressed the rampant rumors that she used to be a man in her 20s.

In an appearance in the second episode of Bill Gates’ series What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates, Lady Gaga shared that while she was a young singer, false claims circulated around the world, along with doctored photos, which suggested she had undergone male-to-female surgery. She specified why she very intentionally did not deny such comments in the 2000s and 2010s.

Lady Gaga explained, “So when I was in my early 20s there was a rumor that I was a man…I went all over the world. I mean, I traveled for tours, for promoting my records, and almost every interview I sat in, they said [it].”

She continued, “They were like, ‘There’s this rumor that you’re a man, what do you have to say about that?’… The reason I didn’t answer the question was because I didn’t feel like a victim with that lie.’”

A longtime vocal supporter of LGBTQ rights, Lady Gaga continued that she didn’t want children across the world who were experiencing similar situations to “think a public figure me like me would feel shame [in their position].”

“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,” she added.

In a 2011 interview on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper brought up the detailed allegations of Lady Gaga’s body and directly asked her if she had a penis. Lady Gaga replied, “Maybe I do… Would it be so terrible?… Why the hell am I gonna waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis? My fans don’t care and neither do I.”