Lady Gaga finally breaks silence on Joker: Folie a Deux outrage as she issues defiant response to negativity
Lady Gaga has defended last years Joker: Folie à Deux amid the critical reception received by the bombed box office film.
The 38-year-old singer and actor, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, made the candid remarks in a new interview with Elle magazine.
Joker: Folie à Deux, released in October 2024, was a sequel to 2019’s Oscar-winning box office smash Joker which starred Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role and Lady Gaga as his love interest, Lee Quinzel.
The original film received a slew of Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director while Phoenix took home the Best Actor award.
However, last year’s follow-up fell massively short of expectations with critics and fans alike panning the sequel.
Joker 2 also failed miserably at the box office, leaving producers Warner Brothers with as much as £153million in losses – making it one of 2024’s worst performers.
The Hollywood Reporter recorded a dramatic 81 per cent decline in its second weekend, earning just £7million from 4,102 theatres.
Even director Quentin Tarantino’s public support couldn’t salvage the film’s reputation. Despite saying he “really, really liked” the sequel, his endorsement did little to sway public opinion.
After previously praising the film’s “audacity and complexity” and calling it “a very big swing”, Gaga has now taken a more philosophical stance on its reception.
“I think to be an artist, you have to be willing for people to sometimes not like it,” she said. “And you keep going even if something didn’t connect in the way that you intended,” she told Elle magazine.
Gaga reflected that fear of failure can be particularly challenging for artists.
“When that makes its way into your life, that can be hard to get control of. It’s part of the mayhem,” she conceded.
Mayhem was evidently on Gaga’s mind as it is the new of her upcoming album.
She told Elle the album, expected in March, was “about following your own chaos into whatever cranny of your life that it takes you to”.
“Writing as many songs as I did for this album was a labour of total love. And then you just have to be very cutthroat by the end,” the 38-year-old added.
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Gaga described the upcoming record as “utter chaos” in terms of genre, citing diverse influences including “’90s alternative, electro-grunge, Prince and Bowie melodies, guitar and attitude, funky bass lines, French electronic dance, and analog synths”.
The singer is not the only Joker: Folie a Deux star to discuss the film after it’s disastrous release.