Salon.com > Lady Gaga http://www.salon.com Tue, 02 Jul 2013 22:38:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Lady Gaga returns to public eye to celebrate gay pride http://www.salon.com/2013/06/29/lady_gaga_returns_to_public_eye_with_speech_for_lgbt_rights/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/29/lady_gaga_returns_to_public_eye_with_speech_for_lgbt_rights/#comments Sat, 29 Jun 2013 14:29:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13346163 Stepping into the public eye for the first time in months after her hip surgery, on Friday night pop star Lady Gaga delivered a speech at New York's Gay Pride kick-off rally. Gaga, a longtime LGBT icon and activist, paid tribute to the LGBT community celebrating the Supreme Court's historic ruling in favor of marriage equality earlier this week.

"As my LGBT fans and friends always said to me, 'I knew Laday Gaga when,'" Gaga said. "Well, look who the star is now. Now I get to say that I knew you when. Now I get to say that I knew you when you suffered, when you felt unequal, when you felt there was nothing to look forward to."

Waving a rainbow flag, Gaga then sand the national anthem:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/29/lady_gaga_returns_to_public_eye_with_speech_for_lgbt_rights/feed/ 1 Variety falls prey to Lady Gaga April Fools’ joke http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/variety_falls_prey_to_lady_gaga_april_fools_joke/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/variety_falls_prey_to_lady_gaga_april_fools_joke/#comments Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:30:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13258797 April Fools' Day is among the worst days of the year for a reporter; just ask the gossip bloggers who, late last night, stopped short of reporting that Lindsay Lohan was pregnant after she said she was with child on Twitter. (Good one, L.L.!)

But Variety forget to tear the page off its desk calendar yesterday morning, and when "X-Men: Days of Future Past" director Bryan Singer tweeted that Lady Gaga had joined the upcoming mutant action movie, Variety rushed a story online -- one that it's now taken down. On the Hollywood trade publication's Twitter feed, the publication noted that "Variety just got April Fooled! Lady Gaga will NOT co-star in the next 'X-Men' movie."

Variety recently shuttered its daily edition in favor of a weekly magazine, which launched in late March. The publication's woes have been well-chronicled on Deadline. Nikki Finke's site has an owner in common with Variety and fights with it as well as sites like The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter for scoops -- a category into which an unconfirmed tweet from a director announcing casting would fall 364 days a year.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/variety_falls_prey_to_lady_gaga_april_fools_joke/feed/ 2 Lady Gaga reportedly turned down $1 million offer to perform at RNC http://www.salon.com/2013/04/01/lady_gaga_reportedly_turned_down_1_million_offer_to_perform_at_rnc/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/01/lady_gaga_reportedly_turned_down_1_million_offer_to_perform_at_rnc/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 22:26:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13258272 The Washington Examiner reports that the GOP, a party whose stance towards gays has been nothing if not fraught, approached LGBTQ icon Lady Gaga to perform at the Republican National Convention's Hispanic Leadership Network last August. Sourcing a lawsuit filed by GOP fundraiser American Action Network against production company Cater America LLC, the Examinar claims that Gaga was offered $1 million to perform. Dolly Parton and Pitbull were approached as well.

AAN's Pete Meachum told the Examiner that Cater America head Rob Jennings said, "See what it would take to get Gaga instead of Dolly."

From the Examiner:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/01/lady_gaga_reportedly_turned_down_1_million_offer_to_perform_at_rnc/feed/ 20 Weird news: New species of ferns named after Lady Gaga http://www.salon.com/2012/10/23/weird_news_new_species_of_ferns_named_after_lady_gaga/ http://www.salon.com/2012/10/23/weird_news_new_species_of_ferns_named_after_lady_gaga/#comments Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:55:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13049770 A group of scientists have named a newly discovered genus of ferns after the pop star Lady Gaga. “We wanted to name this genus for Lady Gaga because of her fervent defense of equality and individual expression," said Professor Kathleen Pryer of Duke University, co-author of a paper describing the new genus. “We think that her second album, ‘Born This Way,’ is enormously empowering, especially for disenfranchised people and communities like LGBT, ethnic groups, women — and scientists who study odd ferns!”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/10/23/weird_news_new_species_of_ferns_named_after_lady_gaga/feed/ 2 Paglia: Madonna’s protests are “gimmicky” http://www.salon.com/2012/10/16/paglia_madonnas_protests_are_gimmicky/ http://www.salon.com/2012/10/16/paglia_madonnas_protests_are_gimmicky/#comments Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:22:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13041865 In light of Madonna's recent striptease, Salon contributing writer, art historian and critic Camille Paglia told "Say Anything!" host Joy Behar that the artist "has lost her instinct for performance."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/10/16/paglia_madonnas_protests_are_gimmicky/feed/ 17 Today’s news in pictures http://www.salon.com/2012/10/09/todays_news_in_pictures_5/ http://www.salon.com/2012/10/09/todays_news_in_pictures_5/#comments Tue, 09 Oct 2012 20:33:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13034955 [slide_show id=13034863]

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/10/09/todays_news_in_pictures_5/feed/ 0 Gaga meets with Assange http://www.salon.com/2012/10/09/gaga_meets_with_assange/ http://www.salon.com/2012/10/09/gaga_meets_with_assange/#comments Tue, 09 Oct 2012 18:12:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13034796 Lady Gaga met with Julian Assange Monday night at his Ecuadorian Embassy hideout in London, and no one really knows why. The two shared a five-hour, closed-door dinner Monday and posed for a grainy photo. In so doing, they caused an Internet furor.

The Wikileaks founder may have also been joined by singer MIA if a tweet exchange between the singer and Gaga is to be believed. Gaga, the most followed person on Twitter, was in London near the embassy to launch her new fragrance, Fame.

This is not Gaga's first connection to Wikileaks. In fact, when Pfc. Bradley Manning passed classified documents to hacker Adrian Lamo, the CD carrying the leaked information was labeled "Lady Gaga." Manning told Lamo via now-infamous chat logs, "No one suspected a thing ... [I] listened and lip-synched to Lady Gaga's "Telephone" while exfiltrating possibly the largest data spillage in American history." [h/t Atlantic wire]

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/10/09/gaga_meets_with_assange/feed/ 14 Lady Gaga first person to hit 30 million Twitter followers http://www.salon.com/2012/10/04/lady_gaga_first_person_to_hit_30_million_twitter_followers/ http://www.salon.com/2012/10/04/lady_gaga_first_person_to_hit_30_million_twitter_followers/#comments Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:42:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13030803 Lady Gaga won the race that she, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna and President Barack Obama were all having in my head. She is the first person to have amassed 30 million followers on Twitter. She fondly refers to them as her "monsters," and fans have been congratulating the singer on #30millionmonsters.

Justin Bieber, with a mere 28 million Twitter followers, seems a little sour in an apparently unrelated tweet:

[embedtweet id="253950458249478144"]

h/t Mashable

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/10/04/lady_gaga_first_person_to_hit_30_million_twitter_followers/feed/ 0 Lady Gaga hits back at body snarkers http://www.salon.com/2012/09/24/lady_gaga_hits_back_at_body_snarkers/ http://www.salon.com/2012/09/24/lady_gaga_hits_back_at_body_snarkers/#comments Mon, 24 Sep 2012 18:23:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13020441 Go ahead and freak out about Lady Gaga's weight. Revel in the headlines that she's been forced to revamp her tour costumes because she's "bulging out of her corset" thanks to an "extreme weight gain" she's revealed on her recent tour. Gasp that she's piled on so many pounds that she just doesn't slink into a filet-mignon bustier like she used to. Because Lady Gaga, thank God, doesn't have a single regret.

The perennially provocative singer admitted to radio host Elvis Duran recently, "I’m dieting right now, because I gained, like, 25 pounds," but quickly added, "And you know I really don't feel bad about it, not even for a second. I have to be on such a strict diet constantly. It’s hard because it's a quite vigorous show, so I tend to bulk up, get muscular, and I really don’t like that. So I'm trying to find a new balance." Balance! Yet another radical idea!

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/09/24/lady_gaga_hits_back_at_body_snarkers/feed/ 17 What celebs wore to the MTV video music awards http://www.salon.com/2012/09/07/mtv_stars_go_with_class___and_black/ http://www.salon.com/2012/09/07/mtv_stars_go_with_class___and_black/#comments Fri, 07 Sep 2012 19:47:00 +0000 http://http://www.salon.com/2012/09/07/mtv_stars_go_with_class___and_black/ LOS ANGELES (AP) — This year's MTV Video Music Awards didn't include any outfits as crazy as Lady Gaga's 2010 meat outfit — unless you count presenter Rebel Wilson's costume, which had a naked body drawn on it. But when it came to the red carpet for Thursday night's show, stars wore chic, elegant gowns and tuxedos. There was lots of black, but this crowd knew not to make it too basic.

"This is the MTV Video Music Awards," said Ne-Yo at the Los Angeles ceremony. "You don't have to stuff it up if you don't want to here. You know what I mean?"

"This is a Versace piece," said rapper 2 Chainz. "The pants are Versace wax gold pants, Versace. Love for Versace belt. Givenchy hat, with a Givenchy pendant. It's basically, it's my vintage meets, meets, meets, my vintage swag meets VMA."

Korean rapper Psy chose a black-and-green striped tuxedo jacket, black bowtie and black-and-white two-toned shoes.

"I want to dress classy because that's why I can dance cheesy," joked Psy.

Alicia Keys sported a new look with a short bob haircut and a one-shoulder metallic gown.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/09/07/mtv_stars_go_with_class___and_black/feed/ 1 Forget Gaga; Indonesia wild for own raunchy shows http://www.salon.com/2012/05/30/forget_gaga_indonesia_wild_for_own_raunchy_shows/ http://www.salon.com/2012/05/30/forget_gaga_indonesia_wild_for_own_raunchy_shows/#comments Wed, 30 May 2012 13:48:00 +0000 http://http://www.dev12.salon.com/2012/05/30/forget_gaga_indonesia_wild_for_own_raunchy_shows/ JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Titin Karisma parades onto the stage wearing a rhinestone bustier and matching bottoms, with sequin fringe that jiggles wildly to the rhythm of the beating drums.

Preteen boys watch the singer wide-eyed as she straddles a speaker, whipping her long hair wildly. She licks the microphone and drops to the ground, repeatedly thrusting her pelvis toward a camera.

Lady Gaga's onstage antics are almost tame compared to this act, known as dangdut, the most popular genre of music in this predominantly Muslim nation of 240 million.

But while the pop star's show was effectively banned from Indonesia, tens of thousands of young women here put on performances like Karisma's every night. They shake and grind in smoky bars, ritzy nightclubs, at weddings, even circumcisions. In most cases the hosts say the sexier the better.

The apparent double standard highlights divisions between Indonesia's largely tolerant majority and a vocal minority of Islamic hard-liners. The conservatives hold outsized influence in government, and have successfully picked high-profile battles like the Lady Gaga show, but they haven't been able to stop dangdut, which has a long tradition here.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/05/30/forget_gaga_indonesia_wild_for_own_raunchy_shows/feed/ 0 Lady Gaga’s male alter ego kicks off VMAs http://www.salon.com/2011/08/29/gaga_vma/ http://www.salon.com/2011/08/29/gaga_vma/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:30:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/08/29/gaga_vma Nobody has ever accused Lady Gaga of being boring. (This is, after all, the same performer who showed up to the Grammys earlier this year ensconced in a giant, translucent egg.) That being said, we're still not entirely sure what to make of Gaga's appearance at MTV's Video Music Awards last night. The pop star opened the show with a monologue and a rendition of her new single. What was remarkable about the performance was that she did it under the guise of her male alter ego, Jo Calderone.  

And we weren't certain which was stranger -- the dangling umlaut in the title of the song Gaga performed ("Yoü and I") or that she continued to appear as the Calderone character for the rest of the evening

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/08/29/gaga_vma/feed/ 27 Today’s must-see viral videos http://www.salon.com/2011/08/16/viral_videos_lady_gaga_you_and_i/ http://www.salon.com/2011/08/16/viral_videos_lady_gaga_you_and_i/#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:30:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/08/16/viral_videos_lady_gaga_you_and_i 1. "Guess the head":

This cinematic supercut is more of a guessing game than the usual mashup fare. Using clips of characters walking away from the camera, can you guess what movie (and actor) you're looking at?

 

2. Divine Rags ... for all your high-quality rag needs:

I'm not entirely convinced this spot for a Memphis mall store isn't a joke, since I'm pretty sure I've seen the same concept in a "Saturday Night Live" mock commercial. (I can't remember the name of the sketch, though I know it starred Kenan Thompson as a prom dress shop proprietor. If anyone could help me out, I'd appreciate it!)

 

3. Living fashion spreads:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/08/16/viral_videos_lady_gaga_you_and_i/feed/ 5 Pop Torn: 10 pieces of cultural ambivalence http://www.salon.com/2011/07/09/pop_torn_shia_manson_lowe_peterson/ http://www.salon.com/2011/07/09/pop_torn_shia_manson_lowe_peterson/#comments Sat, 09 Jul 2011 12:01:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/07/09/pop_torn_shia_manson_lowe_peterson Casey Anthony. Rupert Murdoch. South Sudan. OK, have you got that out of your system yet? Good, because it's time for our weekly roundup of the cultural news that will really have you going "Oh. That's… weird?" Continue if you dare.

1. Lady Gaga's dark secret: Biographer Ian Halperin is telling the world that Gaga is a sick drug addict who is obsessed with her weight.  OK, but is she really bisexual??

2. Bristol Palin questioned on "stolen virginity": Barbara Walters calls out the memoirist for her description of her first time having sex with Levi Johnston. Walters: "It must have been OK, because you kept on having sex with him, yeah?"

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/07/09/pop_torn_shia_manson_lowe_peterson/feed/ 2 Lady Gaga sued over fundraising for Japan http://www.salon.com/2011/06/29/us_lady_gaga_japan_relief/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/29/us_lady_gaga_japan_relief/#comments Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:40:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/feature/2011/06/29/us_lady_gaga_japan_relief Lady Gaga's spokeswoman says a lawsuit accusing the music star of misleading fans with an online pitch for donations to victims of the Japan earthquake is meritless.

Lady Gaga's website is selling $5 wristbands that say, "We Pray For Japan." The website also allows people to make additional donations and says "all proceeds go directly to Japan relief efforts."

A lawsuit filed in Detroit notes that sales tax and a $3.99 shipping charge are added. Detroit-area attorney Alyson Oliver believes not all money is going to help the Japanese and she wants an accounting.

Lady Gaga's spokeswoman, Holly Shakoor, said Tuesday that no profit is being made on shipping costs. She says $5 from each wristband is going to Japan.

The lawsuit seeks refunds for people who bought wristbands.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/29/us_lady_gaga_japan_relief/feed/ 0 Pop Torn: 10 pieces of cultural ambivalence http://www.salon.com/2011/06/25/pop_torn_james_blunt_auschwitz/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/25/pop_torn_james_blunt_auschwitz/#comments Sat, 25 Jun 2011 12:02:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/06/25/pop_torn_james_blunt_auschwitz While this may seem like the week of awkwardness and homophobia (sadly, it's also Pride Week), we can't forget about all the great Holocaust and Hitler references used by celebs recently, or the surge in rehab stories following Ryan Dunn's death. Great job, everyone.

1. Justin Bieber and Tiffani Thiessen have a creepy crush on each other: As evidenced by the shirts the two wore to Canada's MuchMusic Video Awards, bearing each other's faces. Bieber was born one year after "Saved by the Bell" went off the air.

2. James Blunt's blunder: Put a photo of himself on Facebook in front of a historical building near Auschwitz, then claimed it was his "hotel in Poland."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/25/pop_torn_james_blunt_auschwitz/feed/ 9 New York Post fooled by Lady Gaga, Slavoj Zizek hoax http://www.salon.com/2011/06/22/lady_gaga_slavoj_zizek_new_york_post_hoax/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/22/lady_gaga_slavoj_zizek_new_york_post_hoax/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:23:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/06/22/lady_gaga_slavoj_zizek_new_york_post_hoax [UPDATED BELOW]

Man, Slavoj Zizek is really getting around these days! Just last week we heard about Julian Assange auctioning a lunch and panel with himself and Zizek on eBay in an attempt to fund WikiLeaks (the first ticket went for 3,700 euros, FYI). On Monday the Slovenian professor was outed in the New York Post for spending quality time with Lady Gaga:

In a recent blog post titled "Communism Knows No Monster," Zizek called Gaga "my good friend" and said, "There is a certain performance of theory in her costumes, videos and even (some of) her music." He says her infamous meat dress is a reference to "the consistent linking in the oppressive imaginary of the patriarchy of the female body and meat, of animality and the feminine."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/22/lady_gaga_slavoj_zizek_new_york_post_hoax/feed/ 3 Weird Al’s “Perform This Way” hits YouTube http://www.salon.com/2011/06/20/weird_al_perform_this_way_video/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/20/weird_al_perform_this_way_video/#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:30:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/06/20/weird_al_perform_this_way_video For a whole day back in April, it looked like Lady Gaga wasn't going to sign off on Weird Al doing a parody of "Born This Way." Luckily she ended up changing her mind, so America's No. 1 non-Internet-related musical satirist could create "Perform This Way," a highly disturbing video in which Weird Al -- a grown man -- has his face CGI'd onto a young woman's body while he/she/it prances in a number of disturbing outfits.

It might not sound that scary, but it really is.

Sometimes you really just have to let videos speak for themselves, even if they are monstrous and horrifying and are going to give you nightmares for like, a week.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/20/weird_al_perform_this_way_video/feed/ 35 Lady Gaga fans in “Get Well” video http://www.salon.com/2011/06/15/lady_gaga_fans_clarence/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/15/lady_gaga_fans_clarence/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:16:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/06/15/lady_gaga_fans_clarence Lady Gaga knows a little something about whipping her fans into a frothy mixture of hormones and high school. Her devoted base of "little monsters" number almost 11 million on Twitter, and they are a group ready and eager to do the bidding of a woman who dresses up like a sexless robot and sings songs about poker faces.

Could be kind of scary, right? Luckily, Gaga uses her fandom for good rather than evil, and recently had her monsters send their best regards to Clarence Clemons, saxophonist of the E Street Band and frequent collaborator with the pop star. Clarence suffered a stroke on Sunday, and since then Lady Gaga has gathered the best of her fans' videos and turned them into a 13-minute "Get Well" clip.

Here's hoping Clarence will feel the outpouring of well wishes and get better soon. We wouldn't want to see what Gaga could do with that monster power if she suddenly decided she wanted to take over the world.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/15/lady_gaga_fans_clarence/feed/ 2 Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” banned in Lebanon http://www.salon.com/2011/06/07/lady_gaga_banned_lebanon/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/07/lady_gaga_banned_lebanon/#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:08:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/06/07/lady_gaga_banned_lebanon Lady Gaga might have been "born this way," but her music isn't going to be accepted in at least one Middle Eastern country. According to The Christian Post, Gaga's second studio album has been banned in Lebanon for being "offensive to Christianity."

While her song "Judas" was definitely trying to rattle some cages with its "Like a Virgin"-style iconography, America largely ignored the attempt at blasphemy. But according to reports, thousands of copies of "Born This Way" were stopped by Lebanese officials and impounded on the grounds of "bad taste." "Judas" has already been banned from Lebanese radio.

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