As A Star Is Born hits theaters today, the film’s stars are hitting the promotional circuit, so last night, Lady Gaga stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. She and Colbert talked about a variety of topics, but most notable was her perspective on the sexual assault allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. She spoke at length about the situation, addressing her own history with sexual assault and calling the proceedings “one of the most upsetting things I have ever witnessed”:
“What I have seen on the news with this debate of Kavanaugh versus Dr. Ford, it’s one of the most upsetting things I have ever witnessed. It’s heartbreaking, but I will tell you something because I am a sexual assault survivor. […] Should we trust that [Dr. Ford] remembered the assault? The answer is yes, and I’ll tell you exactly why. I know that this woman is smart, because she’s a psychologist, she’s no dummy. If someone is assaulted or experiences trauma, there is science and scientific proof, it’s biology, that people change. The brain changes. It takes the trauma and puts it in a box and it files it away and shuts it so that we can survive the pain. […]
When this woman saw that Judge Kavanaugh was going to be possibly put in the highest position of power in the judicial system of this country, she was triggered, and that box opened, and when that box opened, she was brave enough to share it with the world, to protect this country.”
Gaga previously revealed that she had been sexually assaulted by a music producer when she was 19 years old, and she spoke about it again for a recent Vogue cover story, saying that she has PTSD from the experience:
“For me, with my mental-health issues, half of the battle in the beginning was, I felt like I was lying to the world because I was feeling so much pain but nobody knew. So that’s why I came out and said that I have PTSD, because I don’t want to hide — any more than I already have to. […]
I feel stunned. Or stunted. You know that feeling when you’re on a roller coaster and you’re just about to go down the really steep slope? That fear and the drop in your stomach? My diaphragm seizes up. Then I have a hard time breathing, and my whole body goes into a spasm. And I begin to cry. That’s what it feels like for trauma victims every day, and it’s… miserable. I always say that trauma has a brain. And it works its way into everything that you do.”
Gaga and Colbert also discussed A Star Is Born, so watch clips from Gaga’s appearance on The Late Show above and below.
