Trending 10th January 2019 by Valerie Loftus

‘I Stand Behind These Women’: Lady Gaga Has Apologised For Working With R Kelly

She plans to remove their duet from all streaming platforms.

Lady Gaga has joined the growing number of celebrities to speak out about R Kelly following the airing of a documentary series on the sex abuse allegations against the singer.

Gaga duetted with R Kelly on her 2013 song Do What U Want – there were already a number of allegations against him at this point, but she defended the move, saying:

R Kelly and I have sometimes, very untrue things written about us, so in a way this was a bond between us… It was a really natural collaboration.

They performed the song at the 2013 American Music Awards and shot a music video with controversial photographer (and alleged sexual abuser) Terry Richardson, which ultimately never saw the light of day.

Gaga re-recorded the song with Christina Aguilera in January 2014, and no more was said about the canned music video or R Kelly… until now.

In a statement released on social media earlier this morning, Gaga apologised for ever working with the singer, saying she would be removing the song from iTunes and streaming platforms:

I stand behind these women 1000%, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain, and feel strongly that their voices should be heard and taken seriously. What I am hearing about the allegations against R Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible.

Gaga is a victim of sexual assault herself, and said she made the song and video at a “dark time” in her life when she still had not processed her own trauma.

“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,” she wrote.

I share this not to make excuses for myself, but to explain… Til it happens to you, you don’t know how it feels. But I do know how I feel now. I intend to remove this song off iTunes and other streaming platforms and will not be working with him again. I’m sorry, both for my poor judgement when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner. I love you.

John Legend was the only famous face to appear on the documentary Surviving R Kelly, which contains testimonials from women who claim that Kelly abused them physically, emotionally and sexually.

While Kelly himself has not yet commented on the series, his lawyer said it was full of ‘false allegations’ against the singer.

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