Lady Gaga never addressed rumours suggesting she was actually a man because she "didn't feel like a victim".
Back when the singer-songwriter was first making waves in the entertainment industry following the release of her debut album The Fame in 2008, gossip circulated online regarding her sex.
While Gaga, real name Stefani Germanotta, declined to comment on the rumour at the time, in a recent interview with Bill Gates for the second episode of his series What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates, the Born This Way hitmaker recounted how she decided to make a statement by saying nothing at all.
"When I was in my early 20s there was a rumour that I was a man," she recalled. "I went all over the world. I travelled for tours and for promoting my records and almost every interview I sat in they said... there was this imagery on the Internet that had been doctored... they'd say, 'There's rumours that you're a man. What do you have to say about that?'"
Gaga went on to note that she never felt the need to make an official statement.
"The reason why I didn't answer the question is because I didn't feel like a victim with that lie and I thought: 'What about a kid who is being accused of that who would think that a public figure like me would feel shame?'" the 38-year-old continued. "I've been in situations where fixing a rumour was not in the best interest of the wellbeing of other people. 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."
To conclude the conversation, Gaga insisted the rumours simply don't get to her anymore.
"I've 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," she added.
Gaga is currently promoting her new film, Joker: Folie à Deux. The movie, also starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, opens in cinemas on 4 October.
What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates is now available to stream via Netflix.
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