Lady Gaga’s Relatives Never Knew She was Raped AT 19 Until After The Oscars

Lady Gaga’s relatives only found out she’d been raped at the
Oscars. The Poker Face hitmaker was “too ashamed and afraid” to
confide in relatives including her grandmother and aunt about the attack she
sustained when she was 19 years old.

However, following her performance of Til It Happens to You
– from the rape documentary The Hunting Ground – at Sunday’s Academy Awards,
her relatives told her how “proud” they were of her for being brave
enough to speak out and that meant the world to her.

Alongside a picture of Ronnie and Sheri, she wrote on
Instagram:

“My grandmother and my Aunt Sheri both called me the
day after the Oscars because I never told them I was a survivor. I was too
ashamed. Too afraid. And it took me a long time to even admit it to myself
because I’m Catholic and I knew it was evil but I thought it was my fault. Continue…

“I thought it was my fault for ten years. The morning
after the Oscars when I talked to my grandmother Ronnie, with tears in her eyes
I could hear them welling through the phone she said to me: ‘My darling
granddaughter, I’ve never been more proud of you than I am today.’ (sic)”

She also urged other people in her situation to “speak
up” about their ordeals.

She added: “Something I have kept a secret for so long
that I was more ashamed of than anything– became the thing the women in my
life were the most proud of.

“And not just any women, the ones I look up to the
most. #BeBrave #speakup #tilithappenstoyou (sic)”