This Lady Gaga Confession Was Peak Class, Even As She Shaded Madonna

Summary

• Lady Gaga openly admitted her admiration for Madonna, but the comparison of their songs led to a feud that lasted for years.
• Madonna criticized Lady Gaga for similarities between "Born This Way" and "Express Yourself," calling it "reductive."
• Lady Gaga expressed her respect for Madonna as a performer but was upset that Madonna wouldn't address her directly about the issue.

Lady Gaga has openly admitted to being a huge Madonna fan. Not only in her younger days but as she got older as well. After all, like Lady Gaga, Madonna is an Italian from New York who has no problem speaking her mind. Lady Gaga has also faced her fair share of controversies. Something that Madonna knows a little about. As such, Madonna was an inspiration for Lady Gaga when Lady Gaga was trying to find her place in the music industry and someone that Lady Gaga continued to admire when her career took off as well.

Given that Madonna and Lady Gaga are both in pop music and have similar sounds, they often draw comparisons from critics. While fans believe that there is a huge difference between the two, there was one instance where both Lady Gaga and Madonna fans took pause when Born This Way was being compared to Express Yourself.

The comparison of songs became the only thing that either pop star was being asked about when being interviewed, which led to soundbites that only fueled the fire between Madonna and Lady Gaga. Even a documentary that Lady Gaga was in contained a confession from Lady Gaga that was peak class, even when she shaded Madonna. As such, what started off as a mere comparison turned into a feud, pitting Madonna and Lady Gaga against one another for years.

Madonna Reportedly Criticized Lady Gaga (And Her Music)

In 2011, Lady Gaga released Born This Way. Initially, Born This Way was well received by Madonna's camp. But as more and more news outlets were claiming there were similarities to the song, it appeared that Madonna got more agitated with the comparisons to Express Yourself. This irritation that Madonna felt was expressed loud and clear when she called out Lady Gaga for being "reductive." There was no more guessing about what Madonna really felt about Born This Way.

"There’s a lot of ways to look at it," Madonna explained. "I can’t really be annoyed by it …because, obviously, I’ve influenced her…. When I heard it [“Born This Way”] on the radio… I said that sounds very familiar."

Madonna went on to say, "It feels reductive."

When pressed about how Madonna meant for that statement to come across, she replied with a simple, "look it up," and took a sip of her tea.

Several years later, Madonna was once again asked about the incident and the feud with Lady Gaga. Madonna still clearly believed that Lady Gaga had copied Express Yourself. However, the disdain was slightly less palpable with some time passing.

"The only time I ever criticized Lady Gaga was when I felt like she blatantly ripped off one of my songs," Madonna said. "It’s got nothing to do with ‘she’s taking my crown’ or 'she’s in some space of mine.' She has her thing. I do think she’s a very talented singer and songwriter. It was just that one issue."

Madonna clearly had her thoughts on the topic of the similarities between her song and Lady Gaga's, a song that came out in the 1980s just when Madonna was changing the fashion of the decade. But Madonna was not the only one. Lady Gaga wanted to express herself as well.

Lady Gaga Gave Her Honest Thoughts About The Madonna Feud

One year following Madonna's interview where she claimed that Lady Gaga "ripped off one of [her] songs," Lady Gaga began filming her documentary, Five Foot Two. It was during a candid moment in the back of a limo that Lady Gaga expressed how she truly felt about Madonna, a person that Lady Gaga had looked up to for years.

"So the thing with me and Madonna, for example, is that I admired her always and I still admire her no matter what she might think of me," Lady Gaga explained. "The only thing that really bothers me about her is that I'm Italian from New York, so if I've got a problem with somebody, I'm gonna f****n' tell you to your face."

Lady Gaga went on to say, "But no matter how much respect I have for her as a performer, I could never wrap my head around the fact that she wouldn't even look me in the eye and tell me I was 'reductive'."

Just as Madonna had done, Lady Gaga had essentially given a backhanded compliment to Madonna. But because she had not done so in a snarky manner, many of Lady Gaga's fans believe that she took the high road, or at least believed she took a higher road that contained less snarky talk than Madonna's.

Fans Thought Gaga Was Classy, But Also Throwing Some Shade

As a result of the sincerity that Lady Gaga emitted when she was speaking about Madonna, fans thought that she was being classy. However, mixed in with that class was a bit of a shade thrower, something that the Little Monsters could get on board with.

"Key sentence: : I respect her AS A PERFORMER," one fan wrote via YouTube.

A second fan stated, "Lady Gaga is the perfect example of how one can be honest and classy."

"Honestly, this is one of the best responses I’ve seen to drama from a celebrity ever," a third fan said. "Kind and gracious, but completely straight up and honest."

The same year that her documentary was being filmed, Lady Gaga spoke to media outlets about the feud between herself and Madonna. Lady Gaga took a hard stance on how she felt about Madonna and did not hold back when talking about each woman's musical prowess.

"Madonna and I are very different," Gaga said. "Just say, we’re very different. I wouldn’t make that comparison at all and I don’t mean to disrespect Madonna, she’s a nice lady, and she’s had a fantastic huge career, biggest pop star of all time. But I play a lot of instruments. I write all my own music. I spend hours a day in the studio. I’m a producer. I’m a writer. What I do is different."

Madonna had years of experience behind her, which helped her to build her $850 million fortune. However, Lady Gaga was not afraid to stand up to her. A move that eventually stopped the fighting between herself and Madonna.

Now, the two talented singers are on great terms, having put the whole issue of whether Born This Way is a knock-off of Express Yourself to bed and moved on as artists, continuing to release new music that is reflective of whatever era they are in.