Lady Gaga says 'she didn't feel like a victim' over harmful rumour

Lady Gaga has explained why she has not explicitly spoken about misinformation that she is a man.

The US singer-songwriter and actress, who is starring in the upcoming musical comic book film Joker: Folie A Deux, has been outspoken about LGBT issues, and appeared to suggest that was what informed her decision not to speak about the rumours before.

Gaga told Netflix's What's Next? The Future With Bill Gates: "When I was in my early 20s there was a rumour that I was a man."

"And I went all over the world. I travelled for tours and for promoting my records and almost every interview I sat in, there was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored."

"They were like, 'There's rumours that you're a man. What do you have to say about that?'"

"The reason I didn't answer the question is because I didn't feel like a victim with that lie, but I thought, 'What about a kid who is being accused of that, (what) would (they) think that a public figure like me (who) would feel shame?"

"What I'm saying is, I've been in situations where fixing a rumour was not in the best interest of the wellbeing of other people."

"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."

Lady Gaga added that the idea her "performance is what's not real", is a strange situation, as that is the "most real" thing about her.

The 13-time Grammy winner also said that she has "been used to lies being printed about me since I was 20 years old".

"I'm a performer. I think it's kind of funny," Gaga added.

She refused to directly answer the question on CNN's 60 Minutes, saying in 2011 that her "fans don't care and neither do I".

That same year she released Born This Way, which was inspired by the LGBT movement.

Gaga, who identifies as bisexual, also launched a foundation with the same name as the track, which helps young people going through difficult times.

Born Joanne Stefani Germanotta, she was given an Oscar nod for best actress for A Star Is Born, and won an original song Academy Award for the film's track Shallow.

Gaga plays Harley Quinn, love interest of the Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix, in the new film from Todd Phillips. The first instalment, Joker, won Phoenix the best actor Oscar in 2019.