Lady Gaga is not all too happy with the situation around singer R. Kelly, to the point where the re-release of her iconic 2013 album ARTPOP will omit the song, “Do What U Want” featuring the Chicago native.

There will reportedly be no mention of Kelly at all in the new version, and the song will also be removed from iTunes and other streaming platforms, as was announced by Gaga earlier in the year.

The pop singer has already taken steps to remove the piece from most of her online accounts, and it looks like she was indeed serious with her intention to get rid of any mentions of Kelly.

The whole thing reportedly stems from the fact that Gaga has had to deal with sexual assault in her past, and she sees the entire situation around her fellow entertainer as a very disgusting one.

However, it is not clear why she waited so long to take any action, considering that this is far from the first time that Kelly has been accused of inappropriate sexual conduct.

The R&B legend has a long-running history of that behind him, and some have questioned why Gaga chose to make her position known now and not earlier.

However, it is possible that she was waiting for a more major event — like the ARTPOP re-release — so that her actions would have a more significant impact.

There have been no statements from Gaga herself explaining her decision in more detail, other than her reasoning for the initial action.

She said earlier this year: “I stand by anyone who has ever been the victim of sexual assault. 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. I’m sorry, both for my poor judgment when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner.”

She added: “As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made both the song and the video at a dark time in my life; my intention was to create something extremely defiant and provocative because I was angry and still hadn’t processed the trauma that had occurred in my own life. 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. If I could go back and have a talk with my younger self I’d tell her to go through the therapy I have since then, so that I could understand the confused post-traumatic state that I was in—or if therapy was not available to me or anyone in my situation—to seek help, and speak as openly and honestly as possible about what we’ve been through.”

Advertisement

Removing the song from most platforms might give it a more iconic feel.