Lady Gaga Speaks Out About Sexual Assault, Mental Health, + Beauty Standards at ELLE’s WIH Event

Lady Gaga delivered a powerful and moving speech touching on a variety of important issues at ELLE’s Women in Hollywood event. 

Recently, Gaga was honored at ELLE’s annual Women in Hollywood event for her role in A Star is Born. As part of her acceptance speech, Gaga opened up about sexual assault and mental health, as well as why she wore an oversized Marc Jacobs suit to the event. She explains that the choice came when she was trying on “dress after dress” for the event and felt “sick to her stomach.”

In her speech, she says: “What does it really mean to be a woman in Hollywood? We are not just objects to entertain the world. We are not simply images to bring smiles or grimaces to people’s faces. We are not members of a giant beauty pageant meant to be pit against one another for the pleasure of the public.”

Gaga also opened up about her sexual assault at 19. “I feel shame for what happened to me. I still have days where I feel like it was my fault.” She even explains that she felt so much pain, with no place to go, she began to hide in herself-until her mental pain turned physical. She then stressed the importance of mental health, and how she wants to see it become a “global priority.”

You can watch her full speech below or on ELLE.com.