Lady Gaga revealed to Howard Stern last year that she had been raped when she was about 19 years old and how it didn't really affect her until "about four or five years later," as HNGN previously reported. She explained how it all of a sudden hit her so hard and how it had traumatized her, but how she didn't want it to define her. Now, she is opening up about this tragic experience again to help others who may be in similar situations.
"I didn't tell anyone for I think seven years. I didn't know how to think about it," she said during a TimesTalk panel discussion. "I didn't know how to accept it. I didn't know how to not blame myself or think it was my fault. It's something that really changed my life. It changed who I was completely. It changed my body, it changed my thoughts."
When asked how it changed her body, the 29-year-old singer and "American Horror Story: Hotel" star explained, "When you go through a trauma like that, it doesn't just have the immediate physical ramifications. For many people it has almost like trauma, where you re-experience it through the years after it. It can trigger patterns in your body of physical distress. So a lot of people suffer not just emotional and mental pain, but physical pain as a result of being abused, raped or traumatized in some way."
It took her years to overcome the mental and physical battle that came with the experience, and she even would blame herself for what had happened. "Because of the way that I dress, and the way that I'm provocative as a person, I thought that I had brought it on myself in some way," she explained. "That it was my fault."
Gaga also released a music video back in September for her song "Til it Happens to You," which was written by Diane Warren for the documentary "The Hunting Ground," as a way to shine a spotlight on the rape epidemic on colleges and universities across the country, as HNGN previously reported. The song was dedicated to survivors of sexual assault around the world.
"We hope u feel our love & solidarity through the song," Gaga tweeted at the time. "And perhaps find some peace in knowing u r not alone through this film #TilItHappensToYou."
"Til It Happens To You" was nominated for a Grammy earlier this week, and Gaga expressed her gratitude on Instagram. "Thank you fans and The Grammys for nominating my song 'Til It Happens To You' for a Grammy!" she captioned a selfie. "Me and my co-writer Diane Warren are so honored and proud to be a part of a movement that empowers rape victims into survivors."