Lady Gaga Just Apologized for Working with R. Kelly Six Years Ago

From Cosmopolitan

After mounting pressure to speak out and apologize for working with R. Kelly back in 2013, Lady Gaga issued an emotional statement detailing why she made the song and how she completely believes the women who spoke out it Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly documentary.

Last week, Lifetime's documentary brought to light many allegations of sexual abuse from R. Kelly toward multiple underage black girls, which have been largely ignored by the public and those who were close to the R&B singer. While R. Kelly has denied these allegations, many believe the victims, the police have recently launched an investigation, and people want #MuteRKelly to finally put a lid on his career.

The docuseries is a major turning point, and celebrities like John Legend and Chance the Rapper even spoke in the documentary, saying R. Kelly is a total creep and that we need to stand up for black girls and black women. One person viewers expected to see in the special or expected to make a statement was Lady Gaga, who apparently turned down the opportunity to appear in the doc. and released "Do What U Want" featuring R. Kelly as the second single off her Artpop album nearly six years ago.

Gaga also made a scrapped music video where she's a patient and asks Dr. R. Kelly, "Will I ever be able to walk again?" and he responds, "Yes, if you let me do whatever I want with your body. I'm putting you under, and when you wake up, you're going to be pregnant." Considering the allegations against him, which were actually known at the time of their collaboration, this career move resulted in a lot of head scratches.

For years, Gaga hadn't spoke about working with R. Kelly other than when she defended him and said, "R. Kelly and I have sometimes, very untrue things written about us, so in a way this was a bond between us...It was a really natural collaboration."

However, early in the morning on January 10, Gaga issued a statement on Twitter apologizing for the song, not speaking out sooner, and condemning R. Kelly.

"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 wrote. "What I'm hearing about the allegations against R. Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible."

She also described how "twisted" her thinking was at the time and how being in a "post-traumatic state" led her to working with him. She explained:

Gaga then said she would have told her younger self to seek help or go to therapy to understand how she was feeling. She ended the apology by saying she plans on removing the song from iTunes and streaming platforms and saying, "I'm sorry, both for my poor judgment when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner. I love you."

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