Lady Gaga has revealed the true extent of how schoolyard bullying affected her.
Speaking on Australian television series The Sunday Project, the 34-year-old said the feelings ‘stay with you your whole life’.
After the release of her sixth album Chromatica, Gaga was open as she spoke about the effect bullies had on her – and the apathy others showed while she was tormented.
‘It stays with you your whole life’: Lady Gaga, 34, (pictured) has revealed the true extent of how schoolyard bullying affected her while speaking on Australian TV show The Sunday Project
‘I remember things that bullies said in front of other people and nobody said anything,’ the Bad Romance singer said.
She went on to say no one checked on her to see if she was okay.
‘Nobody said, ”Are you OK? Are you fine?” In fact, if I was to speak up about a bully being mean to me, it would be making it worse for me at school.’
Candid: ‘Nobody said, ”Are you OK? Are you fine?” In fact, if I was to speak up about a bully being mean to me, it would be making it worse for me at school,’ Gaga said. (L) Lisa Wilkinson
The Rain On Me songstress finished by saying she felt being bullied taught her the importance of showing respect for others.
‘Being bullied has taught me the importance of kindness because it is something that can be fixed,’ she said.
Host Lisa Wilkinson also admitted she was the victim of schoolyard bullies during the interview.
A mother’s love: Lady Gaga’s mom Cynthia Germanotta opened up about the origin of her daughter’s mental health struggles during a sit down for Today’s digital series Through Mom’s Eyes in January. Gaga is seen rocking her signature style last December
‘I know you were badly bullied in school, and I was, too. So I can relate with your lyrics,’ Lisa confessed to the American singer.
Lady Gaga’s struggles with schoolyard bullies has been well-noted throughout the years.
Speaking to Today’s digital series, Through Mom’s Eyes, in January, Gaga’s mother, Cynthia Germanotta spoke about how bullying impacted her daughter’s depression.
Bullied: She revealed how middle school bullying first prompted the future star’s depression. Gaga is seen in childhood above
Cynthia revealed how Gaga’s depression started as early as middle school, when the future star began getting bullied by her peers.
‘I knew some of it, but there’s some of it that she didn’t share because she was either embarrassed or afraid to tell me, and that was a little hard to hear,’ Germanotta said.
Things became to get worse as Gaga got older and came into her own.
‘In middle school, because she was unique, she started experiencing a lot of struggles. You know, feeling isolated from events, humiliated, taunted. And that’s when she developed depression,’ her mom said.
Cynthia said she regretted not recognising the signs of what her child was going through at the time.
‘We tried our best as parents to help her, but [we] didn’t know everything,’ she said. ‘I felt where I made mistakes was I didn’t really know the warning signs to look for.’
Unaware: But it took a while for her family to understand. ‘I knew some of it, but there’s some of it that she didn’t share because she was either embarrassed or afraid to tell me, and that was a little hard to hear,’ Gaga’s mother Cynthia Germanotta (pictured) said
Later in life, when Cynthia met her daughter’s many fans, she realised how many people were dealing with the same darkness.
‘As her career took off and we were traveling the world and talking to young people, we realised how many other young people had similar experiences,’ Cynthia said, who has been an integral part of her daughter’s Born This Way Foundation.
In 2012, Gaga launched the Born This Way Foundation to support the mental and emotional health of young people.
Hard times: ‘In middle school, because she was unique, she started experiencing a lot of struggles. You know, feeling isolated from events, humiliated, taunted. And that’s when she developed depression,’ her mom said. Gaga is seen in her teens with sister Natali above
She’s been open about her own fight, revealing she suffered from PTSD in 2016 and later telling Vogue her trauma stemmed from a sexual assault when she was just 19.
Talking about her own experiences in a letter posted to her foundation’s website.
‘It is a daily effort for me, even during this album cycle, to regulate my nervous system so that I don’t panic over circumstances that to many would seem like normal life situations.’
Born caring: In 2012, Gaga launched the Born This Way Foundation to support the mental and emotional health of young people. The star is seen January 4 above