Skip to main content

Home Culture Culture Film & TV

Watch: Lady Gaga’s new video has a powerful anti-rape message

By Will Stroude

Lady Gaga has released a graphic and emotive new video for her song Til It Happens to You, which deals with the violence and consequences of rape.

The track was originally recorded for The Hunting Ground, a documentary about campus sexual violence that was released back in February. The sweeping, string-led number – which was co-written by Diane Warren – was made available online at the end of last week, with proceeds from sales will going to survivors of sexual assault.

gaga2

The 29-year-old – who is soon to appear onscreen in the fifth season of American Horror Story – has previously spoken about her own experience of sexual abuse at the hands of a record producer.

Appearing on Howard Stern’s radio show last December, she said: “I don’t want to be defined by it. I’ll be damned if somebody is going to say that every creatively intelligent thing that I ever did is all boiled down to one dickkhead that did that to me.”

She added: “It wasn’t until I was a little bit older that I went, ‘Wow, that was really messed up… You were 20 years older than me. I was a kid.'”

More stories:
Listen to the first snippet of Sam Smith’s new Bond theme
Watch: Couple’s awesome response to being told to stop kissing in a bar