Lady Gaga has apologized for her song with R. Kelly and is pulling it from streaming platforms

Lady Gaga tweeted that she will be pulling the song “Do What U Want” from all streaming services in light of the documentary Surviving R. Kelly.

Since the recent release of the Lifetime documentary series called Surviving R. Kelly, celebrities have been speaking out regarding the allegations of sexual assault that have been made against R. Kelly. John Legend was featured in the documentary and is one of the celebrities to make it clear that he will not support R. Kelly.

As of Wednesday night, Lady Gaga put out a tweet where she said that she is taking her song “Do What U Want” from iTunes and all other streaming services. The song featured R. Kelly. In the tweet, she says that “I stand behind these women 1000 percent, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain and feel strongly that their voices should be heard and taken seriously.”

Lady Gaga has been outspoken over the years about women’s rights and issues like sexual assault. A few years ago, in 2015, she released the song “Til It Happens to You” that was created for the documentary The Hunting Ground. The documentary was all about the prevalence of rape and sexual assault on university campuses.

In the tweet, Lady Gaga also references her own experiences with being sexually assaulted and how, during the time the song and video were made, she was still in a complex and difficult place with processing what had happened to her. She wrote, “The song is called ‘Do What U Want (With My Body),’ I think it’s clear how explicitly twisted my thinking was at the time.”

Gaga also makes clear in the tweet that she won’t work with R. Kelly going forward. The song, “Do What U Want (With My Body),” came out in 2013. Allegations and rumors about R. Kelly have been around for years, so it’s unfortunate that it’s only now that so many celebrities are realizing and speaking out against him, but we are glad to see that Gaga has released a statement and is pulling the song.

The artist was asked to be a part of the Lifetime documentary, but seemingly declined or did not want to be part of it. In a story with the Detroit Free Press, Surviving R. Kelly’s Executive Producer, Dream Hampton, revealed that other celebrities who worked with Kelly were asked to be in the docuseries. But aside from John Legend, no others were willing to speak up. She said in the interview:

"When it comes to celebrities, It was incredibly difficult to get people who had collaborated (artistically) with Kelly to come forward. We asked Lady Gaga. We asked Erykah Badu. We asked Celine Dion. We asked Jay-Z. We asked Dave Chappelle. (They’re) people who have been critical of him. That makes John Legend even more of a hero for me."

Despite Gaga not speaking out when she had the chance to do so in the documentary, it’s still important that she is making amends after everything. The question is, will others follow suit now that she’s publicly speaking out about working with Kelly? As they say, better late than never. And in these times, it would be better if those celebrities finally speak out on the issue rather than remaining silent. These celebrities have the platform to speak up and make a difference, but it’s ultimately up to them to decide if they’ll make their voice heard.

If you or someone you know feels they are being abused, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE). For anonymous, confidential help, available 24/7, you can call 1-800-787-3224 (TTY).