Another idol of Gaga's is coming for her neck. After a few initial friendly encounters, including a chummy joint appearance on SNL, it would appear that Madonna's impression of Lady Gaga has grown sour. The catalyst for this shift in sentiment? Gaga's #1 hit single "Born This Way," which many music fans and critics pegged as an uninspired derivative of Madonna's "Express Yourself."
There was quite a bit of confusion surrounding "Born This Way" and its Madonna influences. First, Gaga took to late night TV to say that the song wasn't similar to "Express Yourself," and that Madonna had emailed her approval of the track regardless. Liz Rosenberg, Madonna's publicist, on the other hand undermined this spin from Gaga, saying she had no knowledge of Madonna ever sending any email of the sort to Gaga.
Things quieted down after that, but the silence on Madonna's part was an omen and in her 20/20 interview, the Queen of Pop struck back like Darth Vader at her upstart.
"When I heard ["Born This Way"] I thought, yes, that sounds very familiar," Madonna said. The imitation of "Express Yourself" by Gaga feels "reductive," she added.
Madonna later elaborated in an interview with Graham Norton in which she explained that when she first came across Gaga in a Manhattan club, she was impressed by her talent and saw a kindred spirit in her. Madonna emphasized all of this as being in the past tense, however.
Video via That Good Hit
Gaga has been through this before with her idol Grace Jones, who dissed the pop star on several occasions in the media, so hopefully her skin is growing thick.
It's not surprising that Madonna is doing a bit of teeth gnashing in public though. The "beef" will generate interest in her upcoming album and she knows it. Above all, Madonna is a master at drawing attention to herself through controversy.
Even if she felt that Gaga's "Born This Way" borrowed a little more than it ought have from her catalogue, if she cared about her as an artist and comrade, she could've had a private conversation with Gaga about it. Instead, Madonna opted to throw one of her proteges under the bus. Guess grace and kindness aren't part of being an icon.
