Lady Gaga: ‘I Had a Boyfriend Who Told Me I’d Never Succeed’

After 2019’s annual Academy Awards, a Lady Gaga quote about a boyfriend who purportedly told her she would never succeed began circulating on social media.

An iteration of that quote (archived here) published to Facebook one day later was captioned “prove them wrong” and “be like Gaga”:

A photograph of Lady Gaga (whose real name is Stefani Germanotta) in a black gown, clutching an Oscar statue and covering her mouth was captioned:

“I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a grammy, never have a hit & hoped I’d fail. I said to him someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the fucking deli without hearing or seeing me.” — Lady Gaga

One possible inference that could be drawn from this meme is that Gaga won an Oscar and the appended statement was part of her acceptance speech. Elle magazine transcribed Lady Gaga’s speech as she accepted the award for Best Original Song in the film A Star Is Born, and she didn’t make any comments about an old boyfriend:

To my sister, my soulmate, I love you. My family’s here, I love you, Mom and Dad. Bradley [Cooper], there is not a single person on the planet that could’ve sang this song with me but you. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you so much. And if you are at home, and you’re sitting on your couch and you’re watching this right now, all I have to say is that this is hard work. I’ve worked hard for a long time, and it’s not about, you know… it’s not about winning. But what it’s about is not giving up. If you have a dream, fight for it. There’s a discipline for passion. And it’s not about how many times you get rejected or you fall down or you’re beaten up. It’s about how many times you stand up and are brave and you keep on going. Thank you!

However, numerous search results for the quote appeared on search engines, ranging back nearly a decade. The social reading site goodreads attributed the quote to Lady Gaga in an undated post, with user comments ranging back to July 2010 and placing the age of the quote as from that point or earlier. No source was reported for that comment, though.

A February 26 2010 Glamour UK item paraphrased the quote, linking to a source that no longer functioned:

Lady Gaga has revealed that an ex boyfriend told her she was a terrible musician and would never be a pop star, and how she was determined to make it to spite him. Speaking to reporters in the US, Gaga said: “I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song, and that he hoped I’d fail. I said to him, ‘Someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the f***ing deli without hearing or seeing me.’ “Go Gaga! The 23-year-old has had massive success throughout her short 12 months in the spotlight, scooping two Grammys and three BRITs – and her chart-topping single Poker Face was the most downloaded track of 2009. Who’s laughing now, eh? SOURCE: IRELAND ONLINE

An archived version of the linked Ireland Online article (also dated February 26 2010) claimed that a Cosmopolitan interview was the Gaga quote’s source:

She told America’s Cosmopolitan magazine: “I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song, and that he hoped I’d fail. I said to him, ‘Someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the f***ing deli without hearing or seeing me.'”

Multiple similar news pieces placed the quote in the April 2010 issue of Cosmopolitan. A March 16 2010 Cosmopolitan post excerpted the quote as part of a teaser for their April 2010 print edition:

If you haven’t picked up the April issue of Cosmo (you know, the one with “The Sex Article We Can’t Describe Here” and a very famous singer in her underwear on the cover), then you are seriously missing out. Just to give you a little taste of what’s inside, Lady Gaga told us, “I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song, and that he hoped I’d fail…I said to him, ‘Someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the fucking deli without hearing or seeing me.'”

The Lady Gaga meme featured a real quote, albeit one presented somewhat out of context. In an interview for the April 2010 issue of Cosmopolitan, Gaga told a journalist about the boyfriend who purportedly once told her she would never be successful. On the occasion of her Oscar win, the quote resurfaced in a manner that inadvertently implied the commentary may have been an acceptance speech. Nevertheless, the quote is accurate and authentic.