Lady Gaga has shocked fans once again, but this time it comes with a very good cause -- she released a haunting 5-minute music video for "Till It Happens To You" that goes into the dark reality of young women being sexually assaulted right at the very comforts of their universities.
The video begins with this disclaimer: "The following contains graphic content that may be emotionally unsettling but reflects the reality of what is happening daily on college campuses." The video then goes on showing different scenarios involving campus rape.
In one harrowing scene, two very young women were drugged and raped at a college party. There are also scenes that show college students being sexually assaulted in a dorm room and in a campus bathroom. At some parts of the video, rape scenes appeared simultaneously while Lady Gaga is belting out the lyrics "'till it happens to you... you don't' know how it feels." The video ends on a high note where each survivor gets support from the community and rise up to the disgrace of being victims of sexual abuse.
In a tweet from Gaga, which was first seen by Billboard, she explained that "Till It Happens to You" is for the "people all over the world who suffer from painful life experiences." In a follow-up tweet, she expressed her hopes of victims feeling the love and solidarity through the song, "and perhaps find some peace in knowing you are not alone," she said.
The music video was directed by Catherine Hardwicke. In a statement obtained by The New York Times, Hardwicke said she hopes that the video, "with its raw and truthful portrayals, will send a clear message that we need to support these courageous survivors and end this epidemic plaguing our college campuses."
Lady Gaga had in the past revealed that she too was a victim of rape when she was just 19 years old. Her predator, according to her, is a record producer 20 years older than her. While she did not reveal who her abuser was, she hinted that the man used to tell the public that they dating.
"I didn't know that was a date. You were 20 years older than me. I was a kid. How was that a date?" Gaga was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.
Gaga said she kept mum about the abuse because she did not want the incident to define her. "It didn't affect me as much right after as it did about four or five years later. It was so hard. I was so traumatized by it that I just had to keep going and get out of there," Gaga said. Describing rape in general, Gaga said "it happens every day. It happens every day and it's really scary and it's sad."
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
