Lady Gaga Reveals Why She Refuses to Call Herself a Drag Act — Years After Being Hit With Cruel 'She's Really a Man' Rumors
Gaga explained why she doesn't consider herself a drag star.
March 13 2025, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Lady Gaga wouldn't call herself a drag act, despite her overwhelming popularity in the LGBTQ+ community.
The hitmaker revealed she has too much respect for the artform to consider her lavish costumes and jewelry a form of it, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The singer talked about her popularity in the LGBTQ+ community.
Gaga is known for her iconic sense of style as a performer, but the Poker Face singer told iHeartRadio's Las Culturistas podcast she wouldn't call herself a drag queen.
She said: "I probably wouldn't use that word just because I do feel like it's a very specific art form that I'm not ... that I don't, like, do."
The Grammy winner did admit there is a drag element to what she does, but took offense to the stereotype that wigs and makeup and costumes always mean drag.
Gaga – born Stefani Joanne Germanotta – explained: "I think it is a very beloved and specific art form, but … it's hard to say yes, because I would never want to take away from someone that's devoted their life to it.
"If I was gonna do it, I would have to like step it up in a big way."
Gaga likened her outlandish outfits and jewelry to drag garb.
Gaga did acknowledge the love and support she's received from gays and lesbians.
She said: "When I started performing out, and I had LGBTQ + fans, I was like, 'Oh, this is the community that loved me when I was a child, and this is the community that I'm meant to be a part of now.' So I don't think I would be Lady Gaga without the queer community."
However, her unwavering support led to unfounded rumors years ago surrounding her gender, which have followed the star throughout her career.
The pop superstar famously offered a curt response to the question asked by Anderson Cooper in 2011 in which she was asked about the rumor and whether or not she "had a male appendage" or was a "hermaphrodite."
She said: "Maybe I do."
When pressed by Cooper on why she "had fun with" the rumors instead of immediately refuting them via a press release, she hit 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 is stull haunted by false rumors about her gender.
She later admitted the misinformation was allowed to continue because she refused to shut down questions concerning it.
During a visit to the Netflix series What's Next? The Future With Bill Gates, Gaga said: "When I was in my early 20s there was a rumor that I was a man.
"I went all over the world. I traveled for tours and for promoting my records and almost every interview I sat in they said – there was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored – they'd say, 'Here’s rumors that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?'"
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And on not shutting down speculation, she added: "The reason why I didn't answer the question is because I didn’t feel like a victim with that lie and I thought: 'What about a kid who is being accused of that who would think that a public figure like me would feel shame?'
"I've been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of the well-being of other people.
"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."
