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Lady Gaga has come forward with a harrowing story from her past as an interviewee in mental-health series The Me You Can’t See, co-executive-produced by Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry.
The pop superstar shared her own experience during the first episode of the series, saying she was raped at age 19 and left pregnant.
“I was 19 years old, and I was working in the business, and a producer said to me, ‘Take your clothes off,'” Lady Gaga said. “And I said no. And I left, and they told me they were going to burn all of my music. And they didn’t stop. They didn’t stop asking me, and I just froze and I—I don’t even remember.”
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She explained that because she never wants to face that producer again, she won’t name him. The Oscar winner said that years later when she went to the hospital for pain, they sent her to a psychiatrist.
“First I felt full-on pain, then I went numb,” she said. “And then I was sick for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks after, and 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.”
Gaga said the pain eventually led to a “psychotic break” that she still had while accepting her 2019 Oscar.
“I had a total psychotic break, and for a couple years, I was not the same girl,” she said. “The way that I feel when I feel pain was how I felt after I was raped. I’ve had so many MRIs and scans where they don’t find nothing. But your body remembers.”
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Gaga admitted that she has had to deal with self-harm impulses, warning others why they shouldn’t do it.
“You know why it’s not good to cut? You know why it’s not good to throw yourself against the wall? You know why it’s not good to self-harm? Because it makes you feel worse. You think you’re going to feel better because you’re showing somebody, ‘Look, I’m in pain.’ It doesn’t help,” she added.
After many years, she has “learned all the ways to pull myself out of it.”
“It all started to slowly change,” she concluded.
The Me You Can’t See, produced by Prince Harry and Oprah, is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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For a directory of support services in your area, visit the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention.
Learn more about how to help someone in crisis.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
— With files from Global News’ Chris Jancelewicz
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