Lady Gaga confirmed the existence of a Facebook group created by her college mates intended to bully her. The songstress and actress had the last laugh, encouraging others to push through despite the struggles they may be facing. Taking to their TikTok page on Wednesday (September 11), a person shared a screenshot of the infamous “Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous” Facebook group.
The image showed that the closed group had 12 members, and its header featured a photo of Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, smiling next to another woman.
A large “X” was drawn across the 38-year-old singer. Nevertheless, a second image was shared in the same TikTok video.
This time, it showed Lady Gaga, dressed elegantly in a black gown, sitting on a staircase while holding the Oscar she won for her 2018 movie, A Star Is Born.
Lady Gaga confirmed the existence of a Facebook group created by her college mates intended to bully her
To the left of her, a list of her major career achievements was displayed, including her Oscar, 13 Grammys, three Brit Awards, two Golden Globes, 10 Guinness World Records, and various other music and entertainment awards, such as MTV Video Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and American Music Awards.
The video, which amassed over 863,000 views, soon attracted Little Monsters’ attention, as a TikTok user commented: “This would be an insane album name.”
A person wrote: “12 members (fans).”
Someone else penned: “She’s not famous, she’s an ICON.”
A separate individual chimed in: “Success is the best revenge.”
The viral clip eventually reached Lady Gaga herself, as she shared on Thursday (September 12): “Some people I went to college [with] made this way back when.
“This is why you can’t give up when people doubt you or put you down—gotta keep going.”
The Bad Romance hitmaker briefly attended New York University (NYU)’s Tisch School of the Arts, but she withdrew in 2005 to pursue a career in music and acting, Rolling Stone reported on Thursday.
The songstress and actress had the last laugh
Around that time, the songstress reportedly started building a name for herself, performing in downtown Manhattan, New York, USA, clubs as she developed the stage name Lady Gaga, inspired by Queen’s 1984 Radio Ga Ga hit.
Last year, a fellow NYU student took it upon herself to share her own experience attending the college at the same time the Grammy-award-winning artist did.
On the Trading Secrets with Jason Tartick podcast, details about Lady Gaga’s academic days were shared by former Bachelor contestant Carly Waddell.
She recalled: “I was not a fan. Stefani used to play the piano during lunch, and she would sit at the piano every single day and just play and sing Wicked at the top of her lungs every day.
“And we were all just trying to eat lunch. It was break time, and we were all forced to listen to her. And yes, was she good? Of course!
“She was great, but I just wanted to eat my sandwich. And so I used to eat in the hallway because she was driving me crazy.”
Carly’s simple wish of “wanting to eat a sandwich while Lady Gaga belted on a piano” became a viral sensation, spawning the creation of the “NYU students attempting to eat their sandwiches at lunch” memes.
She encouraged others to push through despite the struggles they may be facing
Others who knew Lady Gaga at the time shared a more positive view of the now-popular star.
Lauren Bohn, who was a freshman at NYC when she spotted the “Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous” Facebook group, brought it to the media’s attention in 2016.
She wrote in a powerful Facebook post: “I remember coming across a Facebook group that broke my heart. Its name: ‘Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous.’”
Lauren went on to explain that the page housed pictures of “a pretty Norah Jones-esque young 18-year-old NYU student who sang and played piano at local bars.”
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However, the group was “peppered with comments, sharp as porcupine needles, vilifying the aspiring musician for being an ‘attention-wh*re.’”
Lauren admitted: “I couldn’t shake the raw feeling of filth while scrolling down that Facebook page, but I pretty much — and quickly — forgot about that group and that girl with the intense raven eyes.”
Lady Gaga’s college experience wasn’t the first time she experienced severe bullying.
Her parents enrolled her at Convent of Sacred Heart, an Upper East Side Catholic private school, where she got her first taste of how cruel kids could be. From then on, it didn’t stop.
“I used to do these really big Evita brows,” Lady Gaga told Rolling Stone in 2011.
Taking to their TikTok page on Wednesday (September 11), a person shared a screenshot of the Facebook group
She continued: “I used to self-tan, and I had this really intense tan in school, and people would say, ‘Why the f**k are you so orange, why do you do your hair that way, are you a d*ke? Why do you have to look like that for school?’
“I used to be called a sl*t, be called this, be called that. I didn’t even want to go to school sometimes.”
In MTV’s 2011 documentary Lady Gaga: Inside The Outside, the songstress revealed: “I remember once, some of the girls in my class were hanging out with some boys that I knew…
“The boys picked me up and threw me in the trash can – on the street, on the corner of my block where all the other girls could see me in the trash.
“Everyone was laughing, even I was laughing with that nervous giggle. I remember holding back the tears, my lip was quivering.
“I was like, ‘Don’t let them see you cry.’ I felt as if I was pathetic. I didn’t even tell my parents – that was too embarrassing.”
Upon learning about Carly’s interview, Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda in Broadway’s Wicked, said she’d happily duet with Lady Gaga on tunes from the show.
Taking to her X page (formerly known as Twitter), Kristin wrote: “I’m ready to sing FOR GOOD with our girl Gaga,” referencing the iconic tune she performed on stage with fellow Wicked cast member Idina Menzel.
“This is the real fan behavior,” a netizen commented
