Although Lady Gaga has achieved a major milestone in her career after winning Oscar this year, her past still brings back some of the disturbing moments.
The 33-year-old told Oprah Winfrey, “When I won the Oscar for ‘Shallow,’ I looked at it, and a reporter asked me, ‘When you look at that Oscar, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a lot of pain.’ And I wasn’t lying in that moment.”
“I was raped when I was 19 years old, repeatedly. I have been traumatized in a variety of ways by my career over the years from many different things, but I survived, and I’ve kept going. And when I looked at that Oscar, I saw pain,” Gaga continued. “I don’t know that anyone understood it when I said it in the room, but I understood it.”
Gaga said that she still experiences the aftermath of her sexual assault physically as well as mentally. She said, “I have PTSD. I have chronic pain. Neuropathic pain trauma response is a weekly part of my life. I’m on medication; I have several doctors. This is how I survive.”
The Shallow singer said she wants to encourage other survivors by sharing her experience and assure them to seek help when they are ready to open up.
Gaga said, “But you know what, Oprah? I kept going, and that kid out there or even that adult out there who’s been through so much, I want them to know that they can keep going, and they can survive, and they can win their Oscar. I would also beckon to anyone to try, when they feel ready, to ask for help.” “And I would beckon to others that if they see someone suffering, to approach them and say, ‘Hey, I see you. I see that you’re suffering, and I’m here. Tell me your story,’” she added.
