Lady Gaga has publicly acknowledged a Facebook group that was made to mock her in college. Photo / Getty Images
Lady Gaga has publicly acknowledged a Facebook group that was made to mock her in college. Photo / Getty Images
The Born This Waysinger’s former university classmates created a now-deleted page titled “Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous”.
Lady Gaga has commented on a TikTok video which resurfaced a Facebook page created by her former university classmates who claimed the singer would “never be famous”, acknowledging the group publicly for the first time.
Before rising to fame, Gaga – whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta – studied music at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU) for two years.
She eventually left NYU in 2005 to pursue her career dreams and began performing in clubs throughout New York, reported Variety.
At the time, a group of fellow students at the university created a now-deleted Facebook page called “Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous”. The private page had 12 members and has been screenshotted and shared online by the singer’s fans over many years without any comment from Gaga.
A recent TikTok video compared the Facebook page next to a list of the Born This Way singer’s career achievements, which include 13 Grammys, an Oscar, two Golden Globes and more.
The video went viral, receiving nearly 330,000 likes and 22,000 saves.
“Some people I went to college [with] made this way back when,” Gaga commented on the post.
“This is why you can’t give up when people doubt you or put you down – you gotta keep going.”
The Facebook page was set up by Lady Gaga's former classmates. Photo / @instxdk24ds
One of Gaga’s former classmates said in 2016 that the group’s members criticised Gaga’s career aspirations as a young adult and made fun of her regular performances at nightclubs around New York City, reported the Independent.
“I also remember one dude posting a flyer for one of her upcoming gigs at a local village bar,” said classmate Lauren Bohn, according to the paper.
“He had clearly stomped on the flyer, an outline of his muddy [sole] struggling to eclipse her name.”
After leaving NYU in 2005, Gaga worked on establishing herself in New York’s music scene, taking on a stage name and performing a revue show with performance artist Lady Starlight.
She was eventually signed to Interscope Records in 2007 after her music was discovered by record executive Vince Herbert, and an introduction to rapper Akon led her to sign another deal with his own record label KonLive.
After landing a music publishing deal with Sony Music, Gaga also made a name for herself as a songwriter, writing music for artists such as Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls.
Lady Gaga addressed the Facebook page's existence in a comment on the video.
Lady Gaga moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to complete her debut album The Fame with her record label.
Its release was a commercial success, with several singles such as Paparazzi and Just Dance reaching number one around the world. Poker Face also became the world’s top-selling single of 2009.
Gaga’s most recent project has been starring as Harley Quinn in the new Joker sequel with Joaquin Phoenix, which recently debuted at the Venice Film Festival.
She also announced earlier this month that she will be releasing the lead single from her upcoming studio album in October, followed with the album’s full release in February 2025. The album, which is yet to be titled, will be Gaga’s eighth.
