You’ve got to hand it to Lady Gaga: She knows how to intrigue you. In advance of her Netflix documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two, out September 22, she released several short clips from the film, including one tantalizing scene where Gaga comes clean about her beef with Madonna … though it cuts off just before she gets to the good stuff. Tonight at the Toronto Film Festival, though, the Chris Moukarbel–directed doc screened in full. So, what does Gaga say about the iconic singer, who has thrown shade at Gaga in part (and most particularly) because she feels Gaga’s song “Born This Way” ripped off her own song “Express Yourself”?
The answer comes early in Five Foot Two, as an unvarnished Gaga gets real while sitting on the curb. “The thing with me and Madonna is that I admired her always and still admire her, no matter what she might think of me,” says Gaga. “The only thing that really bothers me about her is [that] I’m Italian and from New York, so if I have a problem with somebody, I’m gonna tell you to your face.”
To hear Gaga tell it, if Madonna would just take her comments straight to the source, there’d be no beef. “She wouldn’t look me in the eye and tell me I’m reductive,” says Gaga, using one of the Material Girl’s pet adjectives. But there’s still hope, Gaga says, grinning: “I just want Madonna to push me up against the wall and kiss me and tell me I’m a piece of shit.”
