Lady Gaga describes backlash to ‘Joker: Folie á Deux’ as “unhinged”
Lady Gaga has described the backlash to Joker: Folie á Deux as “unhinged”.
The sequel to Todd Phillips’ Oscar-winning 2019 movie, Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, arrived in late 2024, and featured Gaga in a prominent role as Harley Quinn.
While the first movie was a success by every metric, the jukebox musical sequel, Joker: Folie á Deux, faced harsh criticism from fans, and also took home considerably less at the box office despite having a significantly bigger budget.
Additionally, it was also nominated for seven Golden Raspberry awards, winning three awards, including ‘Worst Screen Combo’ for Gaga and Phoenix.
“There was a ton of negativity around Joker,” Gaga told Rolling Stone in a new interview, while discussing the inspiration behind her music video for the hit single, ‘Disease’.
She then revealed that the backlash to Joker: Folie á Deux did sting, saying, “I wasn’t, like, unfazed.” Gaga elaborated, “It’s funny, I’m almost nervous to share my reaction. But the truth is, when it first started happening, I started laughing. Because it was just getting so unhinged.”
The Grammy-winner also discussed the personal toll that the role took on her, sharing, “When it takes a while for something to kind of dissipate, that can be a little bit more painful. Only because I put a lot of myself into it.”
Gaga has previously been more reserved while addressing the backlash to the movie, telling Elle earlier this year, “People just sometimes don’t like some things. It’s that simple. And I think to be an artist, you have to be willing for people to sometimes not like it. And you keep going even if something didn’t connect in the way that you intended.”
Following the Joker: Folie á Deux saga, Gaga made a triumphant return to music with her chart-topping album, Mayhem, which she has since followed up with The Mayhem Ball tour.
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