Lady Gaga has broken her silence about working with R. Kelly.
The singer was recently criticised for collaborating with the 52-year-old on their track, ‘Do What U Want (With My Body)’ in 2013.
Gaga has now broken her silence on the matter and promised fans that she will get their song removed from iTunes and all streaming services.
I stand by anyone who has ever been the victim of sexual assault: pic.twitter.com/67sz4WpV3i
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) January 10, 2019
“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. What I am hearing about the allegations against R Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible,” Gaga wrote.
“As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made both the song and 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.”
“The song is called ‘Do What U Want (With My Body)’, I think it’s clear how explicitly twisted my thinking was at the time. 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.”
“I can’t go back, but I can go forward and continue to support women, men and people of all sexual identities, and of all races, who are victims of sexual assault,” the singer continued.
“I have demonstrated stance on this issue and others many times throughout my career. I share this not to make excuses for myself, but to explain. Til it happens to you, you don’t know how it feels. But I do know how I feel now,” the singer added, before she vowed to remove the song from all streaming platforms.
“I intend to remove the song off of iTunes and other streaming platforms and will not be working with him again,” she explained. “I’m sorry, both for my poor judgement when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner. I love you,” she finished.
A docu-series about the sexual abuse allegations made again R. Kelly was recently released, in which stars such as Meek Mill, Chance the Rapper, Ne-Yo and John Legend all spoke out about the claims made against the singer.
