Lady Gaga says she was 'raped repeatedly' at 19 by someone she knew, developed PTSD as a result
In an emotional interaction with Oprah Winfrey over the weekend, Lady Gaga revealed that she suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after being repeatedly raped at the age of 19.
In an interview with Oprah's as part of the presenter’s 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus tour, 'A Star Is Born' actress talked in lengths about her own mental health that was affected due to the harrowing experiences she went through as a teenager.
“I was raped repeatedly when I was 19 years old and I also developed PTSD as a result of being raped and also not processing that trauma," Lady Gaga said, Independent reported.
Although she did not identify her rapist, she did reveal that it was someone she knew. Her PTSD came back without a warning when she was touring around the world.
“I all of a sudden became a star and was traveling the world going from hotel room to garage to limo to stage, and I never dealt with it, and then all of a sudden I started to experience this incredible intense pain throughout my entire body that mimicked the illness I felt after I was raped," she said.
Following R&B singer R. Kelly's arrest for multiple counts of sexual assault against young women, in 2019, Lady Gaga apologized for collaborating with him on the 2013 song, 'Do What U Want (With My Body).'
"I stand behind these women 1000%, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain, and feel strongly that their voices should be heard and taken seriously," she shared on Twitter at the time, adding that she was "sorry, both for my poor judgment when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner."
During her apology, she referred to her own experience as a victim. "As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made both the song and the video at a dark time in my life, my intention was to create something extremely defiant and provocative because I was angry and still hadn’t processed the trauma that had occurred in my own life," she added. "If I could go back and have a talk with my younger self I’d tell her to go through the therapy I have since then, so that I could understand the confused post-traumatic state that I was in—or if therapy was not available to me or anyone in my situation—to seek help, and speak as openly and honestly as possible about what we’ve been through."