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Cape Town – American singer Lady Gaga has apologised for working with R Kelly in a statement on her social media channels.
In the statement the artist reiterated her support for victims of abuse and vowed to remove the song from streaming services.
She also touched on the Surviving R. Kelly documentary series saying: "I stand behind these women 1000%, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain, and feel strongly that their voices should be heard and taken seriously."
She also added: "I’m sorry, both for my poor judgement when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner."
The Golden Globe winner also vowed to never work with Kelly again and detailed the genesis of the song explaining: "As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made both the song and the video at a dark time in my life, my intention was to create something extremely defiant and provocative because I was angry and still hadn’t processed the trauma that had occurred in my own life. The song is called Do What U Want (With My Body), I think it’s clear how explicitly twisted my thinking was at the time.
"If I could go back and have a talk with my younger self I’d tell her to go through the therapy I have since then, so that I could understand the confused post-traumatic state that I was in—or if therapy was not available to me or anyone in my situation—to seek help, and speak as openly and honestly as possible about what we’ve been through."
READ THE FULL STATEMENT HERE:
Lady Gaga has been a vocal supporter of victims of sexual assault. In 2015, she released the song Til It Happens to You for a documentary about sexual assault on college campuses titled The Hunting Round. The song was nominated for an Oscar.
