Lady Gaga says she wasn’t “unfazed” by Joker: Folie à Deux backlash

Lady Gaga admits the *Joker: Folie à Deux* backlash hurt more than expected, saying, “It took time to fade”

Pop icon Lady Gaga has opened up about the hostile reaction to her role in Joker: Folie à Deux, admitting she was not unfazed by the film’s negative reception.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, she said the criticism initially felt surreal: “When it first started happening, I started laughing. Because it was just getting so unhinged.” 

Gaga portrayed a re-imagined version of Harley Quinn (named Lee Quinzel in the film) opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. While the original Joker grossed over a billion dollars and earned multiple Oscar nominations, the sequel faltered at the box office and faced backlash from critics and fans alike.

Gaga explained that the long-fading nature of the backlash hit harder: “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.” 

The actor-singer also describes channeling that response into her music. She said her 2024 single “Disease” and its intense video stemmed from the film’s negativity: “There was a ton of negativity around Joker … and I think I was feeling artistically rebellious at the time.” 

Reflecting on the experience more broadly, Gaga noted: “People just sometimes don’t like some things … 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.”