Lady Gaga breaks her silence on R Kelly
LADY Gaga has apologised for working with embattled R&B star R Kelly, and vowed to remove their duet, Do What U Want, from streaming services. It comes after the broadcast of a new documentary about Kelly, which detailed allegations of sexual and physical abuse against women and underage girls, spanning several decades. Gaga called the stories "horrifying" and "indefensible", adding: "I stand behind these women 1000%". Kelly has denied all the allegations. His lawyer also dismissed the documentary as "another round of stories" being used to "fill reality TV time". But film-maker Dream Hampton said the film depicted how Kelly had "built an ecosystem around his predation", after almost three decades of "preying on young and vulnerable women". Gaga had been under pressure to comment on the allegations against Kelly ever since she collaborated with him on 2013’s Do What U Want (With My Body). The song was contro versial from the outset, as stories about Kelly’s personal life had already been widely reported, while he had stood trial on charges of child pornography in 2008 - when he was found not guilty. At a press conference in Japan in 2013, Gaga defended the collaboration, saying: “R Kelly and I have sometimes had very untrue things written about us, so in a way this was a bond between us.” But calls for her to condemn Kelly resurfaced last week, after it emerged she had allegedly declined to be interviewed for the Lifetime documentary. The star, who is a vocal advocate for victims of sexual abuse, broke her silence on 10 January by posting a long statement on social media. “I stand behind these women 1000%, believe them, know they are suf fering and in pain, and feel strongly that their voices should be heard and taken seriously,” she wrote. “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 extreme ly 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.” She concluded: “I’m sorry, both my for my poor judgment when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner”. Gaga is not the only celebrity to distance herself from Kelly. Chance The Rapper issued a statement on Sunday, apologising for collaborating with the singer on the 2015 track Somewhere in Paradise.