It was clear that Lady Gaga was not the typical guest for Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show” this week. In addition to the frequently-aired promotional spots and reminders, the savvy, sharp-tongued host displayed a kind of appreciation and deference to the October 4 visit from Lady Gaga that he rarely displays. Their conversation made for memorable television. Like the others in the starring cast of “A Star Is Born,” Lady Gaga has been “on the stump,” and making the rounds promoting today's October 5 premiere of the film. This time, however, there was no time wasted on what Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta preferred to be called. The conversation quickly got down to more serious matters between the musical powerhouse and the political humorist, and it is fair to say that Lady Gaga left Stephen Colbert near speechless at one point. Deeper than surface subjects Stephen Colbert did include “fashion icon” in his introduction of Lady Gaga, along with her Grammy awards, and incoming accolades for her acting in “A Star Is Born,” and the leading lady did indeed look fabulous in her black and teal satin gown. The host expressed deep gratitude, not simply for the first-ever appearance, but for the film itself, that not only moved him as a person and as an artist but inspired him, and the whole audience, “to be better and to listen to the people around me, and to hear what people are going through, and what they need to express.” Hearing that kind of sincere compliment quickly led to Lady Gaga heaping her own praise on director-writer, Bradley Cooper, who was her “one person” who believed in her for the project from the beginning. Cooper was convinced that he had found his leading lady after hearing her perform “La Vie En Rose” at a cancer charity event, and the next day, the actor-director was at her door. Demonstrating her true Italian roots from the East, Lady Gaga warmed up pasta for her guest, since “that's what you do,” she reiterates. The time of breaking bread soon turned into breaking out in song, as Cooper said he wanted to hear Lady Gaga do the Creedence Clearwater Revival version of “Midnight Special.” It was when Bradley Cooper “opened his mouth” that the lady who has been singing since age 14 was swept away, feeling how “he sings from his gut, he sings from his soul,” and how that supersedes any measure of a singer that merely hits all the notes, but has no story to tell. “Bradley tells a story every time he sings,” insists Lady Gaga, and the same could be said of her unparalleled repertoire of songs reflecting self-truth. A worthy toast Barbra Streisand has already given her blessing to the 2018 retelling of “A Star Is Born,” and moved Lady Gaga to tears with her remarks on the set. Early on in her visit, Gaga had expressed her gratitude for the gift of this film project, and the depth of what it says about passion and music, and the artists who create it. “We are living in pretty shallow times,” she stressed. Steven Colbert asked the superstar how she coped with the emotion of these days, beyond just her role as Ally, opposite Bradley Cooper's Jackson. She responded that she has a glass of wine and cries. “You've been reading my journal,” the host retorted. Lady Gaga contrasted her character with her own real-life, describing how she would beat down doors and call prospective venues, playing her own agent, just to play and prove herself as an artist. Ally doesn't have that sense of self-trust or confidence, and Jackson tries to inspire it. “If I wasn't here with you know, I'd be at a club somewhere, singing my brains out, banging my heels on the keyboard,” declared the multiplatinum musician. Ever the accommodating host, Stephen Colbert brings out wine and glasses, and Lady Gaga doesn’t shy away from a political discussion, saying that “with you, I say ‘Bring it on’.” She chooses to make a toast to the courage of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, applauding the courage of the psychologist who bravely came to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She called the proceedings of the last week “one of the most upsetting things I have ever witnessed,” she related as a sexual assault survivor. The artist further commended Dr. Ford for bravely coming forward for the good of the country, feeling that seeing her alleged offender on a list for the possible lifetime appointment to SCOTUS likely triggered the box where trauma goes to be opened. She asserted that Ford’s actions and motives were “to protect this country.” A pause came before the toast, and Stephen Colbert’s voice echoed in emotion as he said: “Thank you for being here.” Lady Gaga makes the most of her public platform in advocacy for sexual assault victims, mental health, women's rights, and the LGBTQ community. Life throws hardships and traumas that none of us can imagine along the journey, but fortunately, there are gifts of genuine friends and songs to ease the pain. Lady Gaga and Stephen Colbert know quite a bit about the power of both.<doc-sep>Lady Gaga’s Late Show interview on Thursday night was, in many ways, about what you’d expect. There was a lot of talk about craft—both in acting and singing—as well as some wine. She talked about appearing in her feature-film debut, A Star Is Born, without makeup, and sporting her natural hair color—a look she said was actually less representative of who she is than her usual heavy makeup and elaborate costumes. But the interview took a more fascinating turn when Stephen Colbert asked if Gaga, an outspoken activist, was game to talk about politics. Her response? “Bring it on.” In fact, it appeared as if Gaga came prepared with a talking point of her own. When Colbert asked Gaga how she deals with our current political moment, she immediately dove deep on the debate regarding Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, which the Supreme Court nominee vehemently and angrily denied during a Senate hearing last week. Gaga called the discussion “one of the most upsetting things I have ever witnessed,” but offered a message of her own, as a sexual assault survivor, to Donald Trump. At a rally, Gaga noted, the president implied that the things Ford can’t remember—such as how she got home from the party where she was allegedly assaulted—cast doubt on whether we should believe her assault. “The answer is yes,” Gaga said. “And I’ll tell you why.” Sexual assault, Gaga said, changes people—down to their biology and their brain. “It takes the trauma and it puts it in a box, and it files it away and shuts it so that we can survive the pain,” Gaga said, adding that such trauma can also cause physical pain and “baseline elevations in anxiety.” “It can cause complete avoidance of wanting to even remember or think about what happened to you,” Gaga said. “But what I believe that I have seen is that when this woman saw that Judge Kavanaugh was going to be possibly put in the highest position of power in the judicial system of this country, she was triggered, and that box opened. And when that box opened, she was brave enough to share [her experience] with the world—to protect this country.” Ford’s story has inspired several celebrities to open up about their own experiences with sexual assault. On Wednesday, Connie Chung described her sexual assault in an open letter of support to Ford published in The Washington Post. “I, too, was sexually assaulted,” Chung wrote, “not 36 years ago but about 50 years ago. I have kept my dirty little secret to myself. Silence for five decades.” And on Ellen Wednesday, Busy Philipps cried when she recalled being sexually abused at age 14; host Ellen DeGeneres said that she, too, had been assaulted. “We can do better for our kids and the next generation,” Philipps said. “And we will.”<doc-sep>
Lady Gaga has never been afraid to get political, not even during late-night talk show appearances to promote her upcoming projects. On Thursday night, Gaga appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to promote A Star Is Born. In between sharing fun on-set anecdotes about working with Bradley Cooper, speaking French, and meeting Barbra Streisand (the lead of the 1976 version of the film), Gaga was asked by Colbert if she was okay to talk politics. She replied, “Bring it on.” Colbert then asked Gaga how she was dealing with the current political climate, and she immediately leaned in to discuss the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. “What I have seen on the news with this debate of Kavanaugh versus Dr. Ford, it’s one of the most upsetting things I have ever witnessed,“ Gaga said. ”It’s heartbreaking, but I will tell you something because I am a sexual assault survivor,” she continued, before explaining why she believes Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony of being sexually assaulted at the hands of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a teenager. “I know that this woman is smart, because she’s a psychologist. She’s no dummy,” Gaga went on, adding her name to a growing list of celebrities who have expressed their belief of Dr. Ford. “If someone is assaulted or experiences trauma, there is science and scientific proof, it’s biology, that people change. The brain changes. What it does is it takes the trauma, and it puts it in a box, and it files it away and shuts it so that we can survive the pain,” she further explained to a late-night television studio that had gone completely silent. “It can cause body pain, it can cause baseline elevations in anxiety, it can cause complete avoidance of wanting to even remember or think about what happened to you. But what I believe that I have seen is that when this woman saw that Judge Kavanaugh was going to be possibly put in the highest position of power in the judicial system of this country, she was triggered. And that box opened,” Gaga continued. “When that box opened, she was brave enough to share it with the world to protect this country,” she went on, just before the audience erupted with applause. While Lady Gaga has never shied away from talking about difficult topics, in recent years she has been more outspoken than ever. She performed her song “Til It Happens to You” at the 2016 Oscars in honor of survivors of sexual assault, and partnered with Joe Biden to denounce sexual assault in a PSA that same year. Gaga also spoke candidly about her own sexual assault in her October 2018 Vogue cover interview, revealing why she decided to tell the world about her PTSD symptoms in 2016. “I came out and said that I have PTSD, because I don’t want to hide—any more than I already have to,” she said. “I always say that trauma has a brain. And it works its way into everything that you do.” Related: How Lady Gaga’s Pop Songs in A Star Is Born Were Made