Lady Gaga is fighting against sexual assault at universities in her new song and music video for "Til It Happens to You." The 29-year-old pop icon recorded the song, written by Oscar-winning powerhouse Diane Warren, earlier this year for the documentary, "The Hunting Ground," which shines a spotlight on the rape epidemic on colleges and universities across the country.
The song is dedicated to survivors of sexual assault around the world.
On Thursday, Gaga tweeted to her 50 million followers, "We hope u feel our love & solidarity through the song & perhaps find some peace in knowing u r not alone through this film #TilItHappensToYou."
Catherine Hardwicke, who directed "Twilight" and "Thirteen," directed the emotional five-minute public service video, which was shot entirely in black and white and stars actress Nikki Reed and "Dope" star Kiersey Clemons.
"I hope that this PSA, 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," Hardwicke said in a statement to Deadline.
The video shows four different female university students as they struggle with the aftermath of being sexual assaulted. The scenes depicted each woman being sexually assaulted and harassed at fraternity parties or in dorm rooms. After being assaulted, the women are then shown crying and belittling themselves with phrases written on their bodies like "I am worthless," "Believe me," and "Sometimes I hate myself." It ends with the women drawing strength from their peers as they speak out about their experience.
The video is prefaced with a statement, which reads, "The following contains graphic content that may be emotionally unsettling but reflects the reality of what is happening daily on college campuses." It ends with the statistic, "One in five women will be sexually assaulted this year unless something changes," along with the number of National Sexual Assault Hotline. A portion of the proceeds from the video will be donated to organizations working with survivors of sexual assault.
Earlier this year, Gaga joined a campaign to fight against what some are calling an endemic "rape culture" at universities. The "Enough is Enough" legislation, which was signed into effect in July, fights against the culture of silence. Last December, the "Born This Way" singer revealed during an interview with Howard Stern that a music producer raped her at the age of 19.
"I went through some horrific things, and I'm able to laugh now because I've gone through a lot of mental and physical therapy and emotional therapy to heal over the years," Gaga shared. "My music's been wonderful for me. But, you know, I was a shell of my former self at one point. I was not myself."
"It didn't affect me as much right after as it did about four or five years later. It hit me so hard. I was so traumatized by it that I was like, 'Just keep going.' Because I just had to get out of there," Gaga added.
"Hunting Ground," which was directed by Emmy award-winner Kirby Dick, premiered in January.
