Lady Gaga explains why she never denied rumor she was a man

As one of the more envelope-pushing artists of our times, Lady Gaga is used to being the subject of rumors, but in hindsight, one seems pretty ridiculous: that she was secretly a man. Now, Gaga is explaining why she never denied that particular rumor.

In the second episode of the Netflix series What’s Next: The Future with Bill Gates, which focuses on misinformation, Gaga tells Gates, “When I was in my early 20s there was a rumor that I was a man. I went all over the world … and almost every interview I sat in — there was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored — they were like, ‘There’s this rumor that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?’”

We then see a montage of interviews where she’s asked that question. “Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not [I’m a man]? My fans don’t care and neither do I,” she’s seen telling Anderson Cooper.

Speaking to Gates, Gaga explains, “The reason why I didn’t answer the question is because I didn’t feel like a victim … but I thought about, what about a kid who is being accused of that, that would think a public figure like me would feel shame?”

“I’ve been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of, I thought of, like, the well-being of other people,” she continued. “So, in that case, I tried to … use the misinformation to create another disruptive point.”

Gaga may be referring to the fact that she created a male alter ego, Jo Calderone, who appeared in a music video and in fashion shoots and performed at the MTV VMAs in 2011.