Lady Gaga Addressed Her 2013 Duet With R. Kelly On “Saturday Night Live” In Her Opening Monologue
Lady Gaga and R. Kelly performed together on “Saturday Night Live” in 2013 after he was featured on Gaga’s ARTPOP album.
This post contains mentions of sexual abuse.
As well as poking fun at the negative reception to Joker 2, Gaga also acknowledged that the last time she hosted SNL was in 2013, when she was just 27 years old. Notably, the singer directly addressed the fact that she performed on that episode alongside the now-imprisoned R. Kelly, who was featured on her ARTPOP album.
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Joking that “every aspect of [her] performance aged amazingly,” she said: “So there’s no need to google SNL 2013, Lady Gaga featuring R. Kelly. I won’t bring it up because that would be bad.”
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Since their collaboration on the song “Do What U Want” in 2013, Gaga has publicly condemned R. Kelly’s actions. “I stand behind these women 1,000%,” she said in 2019 after the documentary Surviving R. Kelly was released. The version of “Do What U Want” featuring the disgraced singer was subsequently removed from all streaming platforms.
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You can watch Lady Gaga’s full SNL opening monologue right here.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.
