Rhiannon Ingle
Lady Gaga is no stranger to trolling online.
Even with an award-winning discography behind her and the adoring support from her Little Monsters, it's clear the 38-year-old singer has been subject to some pretty ridiculous comments throughout her career.
One of the most recurring speculations Gaga - real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta - has been forced to address throughout the years is whether or she's actually a man - ridiculous, I know.
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Speaking in an episode of the Netflix documentary What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates, which was released yesterday (18 September), the 'Poker Face' hit-maker faced some rumours head on.
In the documentary, she told the Microsoft founder: "The reason I didn’t answer the question was because I didn’t feel like a victim with that lie.
“But I thought about, what about a kid that’s being accused of that, that would think that a public figure like me would feel shame.”
Despite the baselessness of the claims, interviewers still pressed Gaga on it.
She continued: "There was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored and they were like, 'You know there’s this rumour that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?'
"I’ve been in situations where fixing a rumour was not in the best interest of - I thought, of the well-being of other people.
"So in that case, I tried to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way. I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point."
Fans will remember the extremely uncomfortable interview back in 2011 when Anderson Cooper pushed the 13 Grammy award-winning star to address the baseless rumour.
Gaga, who was just 24 years old at the time, shot back: "Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis? My fans don’t care and neither do I."
She later questioned: "Maybe I do. Would it be so terrible?"
Elsewhere in her conversation with Gates in the new doc, the singer added: "People, I think, assume that someone like me who performs, that my performance is what’s not real. To me, that’s the most real thing that you’ll see about me."
Gaga concluded: "That is so much more real than all of the rumours that are designed to orbit me to gain more clicks."
What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates is currently available to stream on Netflix.