Lady Gaga has spoken out on rumors that followed her early in her career around her gender identity. When she achieved mainstream success with her debut album, The Fame, gossip persisted that she might have been a man or was born intersex. 

Gaga, 38, appears on the second episode of the Netflix show, What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates. It dropped yesterday. The episode is entitled ‘Truth or Consequences?’. It explores the challenges of living in an era heaving with misinformation. 

“When I was in my early 20s there was a rumor that I was a man,” Gaga told Gates. “I went all over the world. I traveled 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 rumors that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?’”

“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?” Gaga continued. 

“I’ve been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of the well being 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.”

She added, “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.”

Anderson Cooper

This is not the first time Gaga has addressed the rumor. In a 2011 interview on CNN, Anderson Cooper asked Gaga directly if she “had a male appendage” or was “hermaphrodite.”

“Maybe I do,” Gaga replied, defiantly.

Cooper pointed out that other stars might issue a press statement to deny such a rumor.

“Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis? 

“My fans don’t care and neither do I,” Gaga added.

Gaga will be seen next month in the eagerly-anticipated Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux (out October 4). 

Her latest track, “Die With A Smile,” with Bruno Mars, is currently at four on the Billboard Hot 100. She recently revealed the first track from her seventh studio album will be out next month.

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