In 2014, Lady Gaga revealed that she had been sexually assaulted by a man 20 years her senior while appearing on “The Howard Stern Show.”
On Sunday, Gaga performed her Oscar-nominated song, “Til it Happens to You,” and featured sexual assault survivors onstage with her. Gaga was on the brink of tears during the entire powerful performance and received a much-deserved standing ovation from The Academy.
She may have been open to fans and the public about her experience, but Gaga kept two very important people in the dark about it. Her aunt and grandmother did not find out about the assault until she performed onstage at the Oscars. Gaga took to Instagram on Tuesday to tell her fans about how she opened up to these important women in her life.
My grandmother (in the middle) and my Aunt Sheri (on the right) both called me the day after the Oscars because I never told them I was a survivor. I was too ashamed. 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. The morning after the Oscars when I talked to my grandmother Ronnie, with tears in her eyes I could hear them welling through the phone she said to me “My darling granddaughter, I’ve never been more proud of you than I am today.” Something I have kept a secret for so long that I was more ashamed of than anything– became the thing the women in my life were the most proud of. And not just any women, the ones I look up to the most. #BeBrave #speakup #tilithappenstoyou
She is such an inspiration.
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