‘Lady Gaga Is a Man’ Rumors Shut Down by the Music Icon Herself

Lady Gaga appeared in the second episode of “What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates” and explained her decision not to speak out against the rumors that dominated headlines early in her career and claimed she was actually a man. The pop icon famously shut down a question about the rumors by telling CNN in 2011: “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.”

“When I was in my early 20s there was a rumor that I was a man,” Gaga told Bill 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.”

Gaga summarized her relationship with misinformation by saying: “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.”

The Grammy and Oscar winner is gearing up for a big fall thanks to the release of “Joker: Folie à Deux,” which world premiered earlier this month at the Venice Film Festival. The film opens Oct. 4 from Warner Bros. Gaga recently topped the music charts with her Bruno Mars debut “Die With a Smile,” and she’s set to release the first single from her upcoming seventh studio album in October. The full album will arrive sometime in 2025.

All episodes of “What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates” are now available to stream on Netflix.