Lady Gaga has revealed painful memories of her aunt’s experience of sexual assault.
Before performing “Till It Happens To You” at Sunday night's Producers Guild Awards, the singer explained why the song holds particular resonance for her and her family.
“It's not only an important issue to me, but it's an important issue to my family because when my father's sister was in college, she was sexually assaulted," she said.
“Then, it tormented her so emotionally that it caused the lupus that she had to get so bad that she died.
“My father was 16 and it affected my family really tremendously my whole life. That’s one of the centerpieces of our family. So this song means so much to me and so much to my parents”.
The 29-year-old star went on to perform “Till It Happens To You”, the soundtrack for The Hunting Ground, a documentary about the prevalence of rape and sexual harassment in American universities.
The Grammy-award winning singer has spoken out about her own experience of her alleged sexual assault several times in the past.
Just over a year ago, Lady Gaga told radio host Howard Stern that she was sexually assaulted at the age of 19 by a man who was 20 years older.
In a recent New York Times panel talk, she also spoke openly of the attack, which she says she kept secret for seven years.
“I didn’t know how to even think about it, accept it, how to not blame myself or think it was my fault," she said.
"It was something that really changed my life, it changed who I was completely, it changed my body, it changed my thoughts”.
Gaga also disclosed the long-term physical and psychological repercussions of the sexual violence.
“When you go through a trauma like that it doesn’t just have immediate physical ramifications on you, for many people it has… trauma," she said.
"When you re-experience it throughout the years after, it can trigger patterns in your body, physical distress.
“A lot of people not only suffer from emotional and mental pain, but physical pain as a result of being abused, raped or traumatised in some type of way.”
The singer, who’s real name is Stefani Germanotta, has also said she sometimes felt as if she was to blame for her assault.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, she said: “I was already Lady Gaga when it happened. It was someone that I knew, and it was done to manipulate me in conjunction with money and my music, and it was terrifying.
“It's something that changed me forever, and it made me question everything about what I had done to be where I am today.
“I thought to myself, 'Did I do something wrong to bring this on myself? What did I do?’”
