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Lady Gaga Says Harassment Used To Be A 'Rule, Not An Exception' In American Music Industry

“Nobody wants to lose their power, so they don’t protect you,” the singer said.

Lady Gaga has experienced harassment firsthand in the music industry.

The singer and actress opened up about her beginnings ― and her observations of the industry’s harmful culture ― during a roundtable discussion in The Hol­ly­wood Re­porter’s Nov. 28 issue.

“When I started in the music business when I was around 19, it was the rule, not the exception, that you would walk into a recording studio and be harassed. It was just the way that it was,” the 32-year-old said.

While Gaga said that while she spoke out about the harassment ― and also told people when she was assaulted ― but the environment back then was different.

“You know, there was a ‘boys club.’ Nobody wants to lose their power, so they don’t protect you because if they say something, it takes some of their power away,” the singer said.

But the artist told the magazine that she does see a shift in men’s attitudes over the last year.

“That’s what is so exciting with the #MeToo movement and Time’s Up, to see men coming to stand by our side and say, ‘We want you to be loud. We want to hear your voices.’ It’s really remarkable,” Gaga said.

Lady Gaga arrives at the Governors Awards on Nov.18 in Hollywood.
Steve Granitz via Getty Images
Lady Gaga arrives at the Governors Awards on Nov.18 in Hollywood.

Gaga has been candid about her experience with sexual violence, the aftermath of processing it and later healing from it.

“It was almost like I tried to erase it from my brain,” she said in a recent interview for Vogue’s October issue. “And when it finally came out, it was like a big, ugly monster. And you have to face the monster to heal.”

But still, she suffers from PTSD related to the event and says that it’s a struggle nearly every single day.

“You know that feeling when you’re on a roller coaster and you’re just about to go down the really steep slope? That fear and the drop in your stomach? My diaphragm seizes up,” she said.

“Then I have a hard time breathing, and my whole body goes into a spasm. And I begin to cry. That’s what it feels like for trauma victims every day, and it’s ... miserable. I always say that trauma has a brain. And it works its way into everything that you do.”

Head to The Hollywood Reporter to read more from the interview.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.