Lady Gaga on the Negativity Surrounding Joker 2: 'People Just Sometimes Don't Like Some Things'

Lady Gaga Addresses Backlash to 'Joker: Folie à Deux'

Pop icon and actress Lady Gaga has finally addressed the mixed reception to her latest film, Joker: Folie à Deux. Following its release, Gaga, who portrayed Harley Quinn, remained largely silent on the film's performance, despite releasing a companion album, Harlequin. In a recent interview with Elle, she shared her perspective on the negative criticism.

Gaga explained that she navigated the negativity, as she does with any challenging project, by managing her expectations beforehand. "People just sometimes don’t like some things," she stated. "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."

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Released last October, Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to Todd Phillips' 2019 hit, received underwhelming reviews from critics and audiences alike, currently holding a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Its theatrical run was short-lived, leading to a swift digital release. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav even described the film's performance as "disappointing."

Gaga acknowledged the challenges of facing such criticism, stating, "When that makes its way into your life, that can be hard to get control of. It’s part of the mayhem."

Despite the film's less-than-stellar reception, Gaga is moving forward with the release of her new album, Mayhem, this March, concluding a five-year gap since Chromatica. For further perspectives on Joker: Folie à Deux, explore differing opinions from Quentin Tarantino and Hideo Kojima, and see where the film ranks among 2024's biggest disappointments.