Jack Whitehall has shared the stinging insult Lady Gaga threw at him after an on-stage gaffe at the British Fashion Awards.
The comedian, 36, first recalled the incident during an appearance on Chris Moyles’s Radio X show in 2021, where he was asked about his hardest stand-up gigs.
Recalling the awkward moment then, Whitehall admitted that he left London’s Royal Opera House “in shame” after he “tanked” the event, which he hosted for five years, following Gaga’s “obscene” remark.
Fast forward to 2025, the British star discussed the mortifying encounter once again while recording the Dish Live! podcast with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett on the same stage where the mishap occurred.
During the live recording on Wednesday, Whitehall explained that in the middle of the star-studded ceremony, producers told him through his earpiece that Gaga was delayed backstage.
“Sometimes something goes wrong and then you have to fill and it hasn’t happened that many times in my life but it did happen when I was doing the [British] Fashion Awards because I was about to bring out Lady Gaga to present an award and then someone in my ear says, ‘she’s not ready, you’re going to have to fill’,” he explained.
With fashion icons Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld in the front row, the pressure mounted.
“So then I was stood on stage, having already died in front of Anna Wintour and now I’m improvising about what to talk about because my front row was also Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld....,” he joked.
As he tried to improvise, a producer added through his earpiece that Gaga was experiencing a “wardrobe malfunction.”
“Honestly at one point I started reading out the nominees again - ‘Tom Ford? He makes aftershave’ - and then they went, ‘she’s had a wardrobe malfunction, just keep filling’,” he said about trying to fill the time.
However, it was the same era as Gaga’s notorious meat dress, so his “comic brain” jumped straight to a joke.
But before he could deliver a punchline, the cue changed.
He shared: “I went, ‘so yes backstage, we’re about to bring out Lady Gaga, who has had a wardrobe malfunction’... and then they say in my ear, ‘you can bring her out now’, [so I immediately said] ‘Lady Gaga everyone’.
Whitehall revealed that Gaga was less than impressed with his improv skills, now revealing the expletive four-word remark she aimed towards him.
“And as she walked past me, she said, ‘you’re a f**king a**hole’,” he laughed.
Dish from Waitrose is available on all podcast providers
