Celebrities Who've Clashed With Lady Gaga

Love her or hate her, Lady Gaga makes people feel things. Over the years she has stirred controversy, provoked critics, and ruffled more than a few feathers. Here are some famous names who have publicly squared off with her.

Katy Perry and Gaga's Chart Clash

When two pop divas drop singles the same week, sparks fly. In 2013 Katy Perry released Roar the same week Gaga dropped Applause, and the Twitter shade was instant. Perry had also poked fun at Gaga back in 2010 over the Alejandro video, so this was hardly new. By 2018 both women publicly signaled they had grown up, and the feud looked to be mostly laid to rest.

Lana Del Rey's Leaked Diss Track

Lana Del Rey and Gaga are polar opposites, so a clash felt inevitable. A leaked 2009 track called So Legit surfaced in 2013, with lyrics that clearly took aim at Stefani and mocked Gaga. Lana even referenced a time she said Gaga was booed off stage, which was awkward when the song leaked years later. Still, they were seen chatting warmly at an Oscar party in 2016, so whatever heat existed cooled down.

Madonna Says Gaga Borrowed Her Sound

Madonna was blunt about Gaga being influenced by her, calling it flattering at first. But when asked about specific songs she suggested Born This Way borrowed from her 1989 hit Express Yourself. The similarity has been noted by many, yet Madonna also praised Gaga's talent and denied there was an all-out feud. So it was more a pointed critique than a full-blown war.

Perez Hilton's Friendship Turned Sour

Perez Hilton was an early Gaga booster, but their friendship imploded around a 2011 interview. Hilton says Gaga drank too much and flew off the handle when asked about her boyfriend, while Gaga claims he posed offensive questions and insulted Born This Way. The two traded barbs on Twitter for years after, and both still tell very different versions of that night. Chances of a reunion look slim.

Adam Levine

Adam Levine is not exactly known for being humble, and he’s gotten into countless fights with other celebs over the years – and they have usually started because of Adam’s unprovoked snide comments. In 2013, it was Gaga’s turn. Her artistic music video for Applause was the latest thing on everyone’s lips, but Adam felt the need to express that he for one, was not impressed. So he tweeted this, essentially calling Lady Gaga an art teacher. But as is obvious from Gaga’s reply, she just mocked his rudeness.

Always bragging

As a reply to Gaga’s mocking, Adam stated “I’m NOT an artist, I sing in a band and I make music with my friends”. We’re not sure why that makes him different or better than an artist, but ok. It’s kind of his thing to point out other musicians’ lack of talent, while highlighting his own. Which really isn’t a good look. Adam acting superior and bashing other celebs has actually gotten him in trouble over the years. Like when he got sugar bombed in Hollywood, by what might very well have been a Lady Gaga fan…

Kelly Osbourne

Kelly Osbourne and Lady Gaga probably butted heads mostly because they were pretty similar to each other; young, unfiltered, and unconventional (bordering on bizarre). Their feud started back in 2009 when Kelly, for unknown reasons called Gaga “butterface.” For those not in the know, that expression refers to a woman having a nice figure but an ugly face…So it was definitely rude on Kelly’s part. However, Kelly had not counted on Gaga’s massive fanbase aggressively coming to their queen’s defense…

Not backing down

Gaga’s fans rudely attacked Kelly on Twitter, and Gaga herself didn’t exactly turn the other cheek. She wrote an open letter to the Fashion Police Critic talk-show, which Kelly co-hosts, essentially calling out Kelly for being mean. Kelly did not back down, instead she bit back, saying Gaga was a hypocrite. Eventually Gaga seemingly tried to make amends by sending Kelly a birthday cake, which Kelly didn’t accept for unclear reasons. However, later on she apologized and a few years down the line she has admitted she acted immaturely. It seems as the two get along now.

Madonna

What Lady Gaga was for the 2010s, Madonna was for the 1980s. Both these talented women made careers for themselves by being confident, controversial, groundbreaking, and just completely different from anyone else in the music industry. So perhaps it’s not so surprising many would accuse Gaga of copying Madonna. In 2012, as Gaga was firmly established as one of the world’s most successful and trendy female artists, Madonna herself had a few things to say about the young star.

Blatantly ripped off a song

Madonna stated in an interview that it was obvious Lady Gaga was “influenced” by her, and that it was flattering. But once she got asked about specific songs, it seemed as if her real opinions started coming out. When asked about her thoughts on Gaga’s mega hit Born This Way, Madonna seemed to insinuate she felt like Gaga had ripped off her iconic 1989 pop anthem Express Yourself. And to be honest, the similarity is undeniable. However, Madonna has also said Gaga is very talented, and emphasized the two are not in any sort of feud.

Piers Morgan

Is there any famous person Piers Morgan has not butted heads with? We doubt it. In the case of Lady Gaga, he’s been triggered more than once. First he claimed Gaga could not really be suffering from PTSD, something she has discussed in interviews since 2016, and basically ridiculed her for being a snowflake celeb. He then took offense at her being invited to a WHO Covid-19 press conference, stating that if she hadn’t found a cure, there was no point to her being there…

A surprising moment

As it turns out, Piers Morgan can apologize! Lady Gaga can count herself as one of the very lucky few who has made Piers realize he was wrong about something for once. However, just because he apologized in this specific case, things are still overall frosty between them. The two have continuously gone back and forth on Twitter regarding the PTSD disagreement. Gaga insists not just soldiers can have it, and Piers continues to believe celebs today are just playing victims. They should probably just agree to disagree at this point.

Christina Aguilera

It seems as if Christina Aguilera in 2008, at the time already an established star, felt kind of threatened by the explosive arrival of Lady Gaga. Gaga made her debut with the studio album The Fame in August of 2008, and Christina sort of pulled a Mariah Carey when asked about the new star (for those not in the know, Mariah said she didn’t know who J.Lo was, despite the latter already being very famous…).

Is that a man or a woman?

Christina didn’t go quite as far as saying she had no clue who Gaga was, but she did vaguely say something along the lines of “I’m not quite sure who this person is, to be honest. I don’t know if it is a man or a woman, I don’t spend much time on the internet”. Which is a pretty odd thing to say. However, Gaga graciously responded saying it was flattering someone like Christina even knew who she was. And there seems to be no bad blood between the two, they even performed together at the 2013 season finale of The Voice.

Perez Hilton

Blogger Perez Hilton and Gaga started out as besties. In the beginning of Gaga’s career, Perez was one of her biggest supporters, applauding her and having her back every step of the way. But Perez is a drama and controversy magnet, and to be fair so was Gaga during her younger years. So in 2011, after a few years of solid friendship, it all went downhill due to an ill-fated interview. But the two have completely different versions of what went down.

That escalated quickly

Perez’s version of events is that Gaga sat down for an interview with Perez, had a few too many drinks, and proceeded to get furious at him for asking about her then-boyfriend. Gaga’s version is that Perez asked very offensive questions, and bashed Born This Way. Eventually she burst into tears and left, and has since not wanted to be friends with him as she feels that he is fake. The two continued taking jabs at each on Twitter, even two years later. We don’t foresee this friendship ever being rekindled.

Azealia Banks

Rapper Azealia Banks is almost as famous for her unique sound as she is for her bad attitude. So perhaps it wasn’t too surprising she got beyond triggered when her and Gaga’s collab fell through. It’s unclear what really happened, but Azealia was supposed to collaborate on a track for Gaga’s third album Artpop. The two reportedly did record the song, titled Red Flame, but Gaga eventually decided not to use it. So Azealia accused Gaga of stealing it.

Packing on the attitude

Azealia didn’t stop at accusing Gaga of stealing the (unreleased) track. She then also claimed Gaga had stolen the album title Artpop, and that she was copying her “mermaid aesthetics”. However, there didn’t seem to be much base for her allegations and Gaga didn’t even respond. But in 2013 she did make a comment to fans about the Azealia drama, just stating short and simple “she has a bad attitude”. Azealia retaliated by mocking Gaga’s political views. As far as we know, they have not yet made nice.

Jerry Seinfeld

Who could have imagined a less likely celeb feud than Lady Gaga and Jerry Seinfeld? And yet, it happened (and Jerry seems to have been holding a grudge ever since). It all started in 2010, when Gaga sat in Jerry Seinfeld’s box at a New York Mets game, Making matters worse was she seemed intoxicated, or in a bad mood (or both), giving the cameras the middle finger and waltzing around semi-dressed. Jerry, was (very vocally) unimpressed…

“I don’t know what these young people are thinking…”

When asked about the incident in a radio interview, Jerry said he didn’t understand her behavior and even called Gaga a jerk. He also questioned how come she had been allowed to sit in his box, and how her bad behavior shouldn’t help her get upgraded seats. Jerry did acknowledge that Gaga is a talented artist, but as such he didn’t understand why she had to resort to vulgar gestures and nudity for attention… At the end of the day, this situation seemed to have been something of a clash between the older generation and the younger. But last we checked, Gaga’s target audience isn’t exactly 67-year-old comedians, so she hardly cared about Jerry bashing her.

Adele

When it comes to Adele, it seems as if Lady Gaga went from unintentional enemy to bestie in the most confusing way. Their alleged “beef” was sort of started by Gaga, and sort of by Little Mix(?). The latter apparently did not agree with Adele being nominated for more MTV VMA awards than Gaga one year, and Kanye West style decided to butt in. They tweeted jokes related to Adele’s weight, which is definitely a low blow and not acceptable in this day and age.

From insults to besties

As it turned out, Lady Gaga too had made comments about Adele’s size back in 2012, but somewhat unintentionally. Apparently she had been body shamed herself, and in response said in interviews that “Adele is bigger than me, why is no one saying anything about that?”. But she also added she thinks Adele’s confidence is admirable, and she has since clarified she actually adores Adele. And Adele, always the class act, has never said a bad word about Gaga. It seems as if they today are on great terms.

M.I.A.

English rapper Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, who goes by M.I.A. is a lot like Gaga in certain ways. She’s definitely not as mainstream, but she too has made a career for herself as someone strong, edgy, and non-conforming (with social activism to top it off). And like many female rappers, she enjoys playing up the attitude. And despite being far from as big and successful as Gaga, she wasn’t scared to voice her negative opinions about her.

“She’s not progressive, but she’s a good mimic”

Already in 2010, M.I.A complained about the new international phenomenon that was Lady Gaga. She claimed Gaga was fake and hypocritical, because she wasn’t actually as edgy or artsy as she thought. What really seemed to bother M.I.A, was how Gaga was succeeding at the type of artsitry M.I.A was selling. She even stated “she’s not progressive, but she’s a good mimic. She sounds more like me than I f**king do!”. Ouch… But Gaga either never heard this critique, or chose to turn the other cheek, because she never responded.

Roisin Murphy

There are quite a few celebs on this list who embody much of the same type of artistry as Gaga, yet intensely dislike her. We hardly think that’s a coincident. Truth is, many moderately famous singers such as the Irish Roisin Murphy probably can’t wrap their heads around why Gaga took the same stuff they had been doing for years, and turned it into an international mainstream mega success. So unsurprisingly, Roisin is yet another artist who has accused Gaga of ripping off her style.

A poor imitation

Roisin has stated she met Gaga, when Gaga was still an up-and-coming newbie in the industry, and that at the time wasn’t wearing over the top, artsy outfits with massive shoulder pads, and odd accessories. Roisin, however, was, which led her to assume Gaga stole that look from her. She even went so far as stating the superstar is just “a poor imitation of me”. Those are pretty big words, coming from a much smaller artist. And one thing we can clear up right away; neither Gaga nor Roisin invented shoulder pads…the ’80s did.

Kerli

Ok, when looking at these pictures below, it’s kind of easy to guess where this is going. The circa 2010 Gaga looks a lot like the Estonian pop singer Kerli, who had been looking like that for years… In 2010, Kerli voiced her irritation over having this new American pop star profiting off of a look she created. In not so polite words, with plenty of profanities ands insults sprinkled in, she wrote she wished Gaga would stop copying her style.

Lost her temper

Kerli actually apologized soon after her tirade, saying she does actually admire Gaga and has followed her career from way before she reached mainstream fame. However, she explained that she lost her temper for a moment because she feels like everything she does, Gaga does two weeks later… Kerli also stated she knows that Gaga knows who she is, and that she’s even friends with people on her team. So maybe it’s understandable she felt like people working for Gaga might be keeping tabs on her, and reporting back to Gaga regarding any cool style ideas…

Bette Midler

Several celebs on this list have accused Gaga of stealing their style, most of which with very dubious claims (again, no one “owns” the shoulder pads look). But in Bette Midler’s case, she might actually be making a more valid point. While on tour in Sydney, Gaga performed on stage as a mermaid in a wheelchair – which is a very unique thing to do on stage. Only that Bette Midler has been doing a mermaid-wheelchair routine since the 80s…

“The mermaid’s mine”

At least Bette Midler has a great sense of humor. So she “attacked” Gaga on Twitter in a light-hearted way, but still made sure her point came across. She tweeted that she wasn’t sure Gaga even knows the mermaid-wheelchair thing was Bette’s first, and has been for decades. But she wanted to let her know, and jokingly added Gaga was welcome to keep her meat dress, as long as she knew the mermaid is Bette’s.

Die Antwoord

Who in their right mind would turn down an offer to perform on tour with Lady Gaga? Well, clearly the members of the South African hip hop group Die Antwoord are not in their right minds. Not only did they turn her down, they turned her down rudely. Which feels very unnecessary, when Gaga was just trying to help this group (which we have never heard of) get more exposure. No doubt a tour with Gaga would have done the trick.

Too cool for Gaga

Instead of saying no thank you, Die Antwoord cockily said they believe they’re much cooler than Gaga. So essentially they insinuated they are “too cool” to perform with Lady Gaga. Which is ridiculous. Especially since Gaga said she likes the band, just pointed out how they have no big hit yet. The band yet again attacked Gaga on Twitter in 2015, stating she stole band member Yolandi’s hairstyle. Sure, the cut is similar – but you might as well say Gaga was inspired by Spock in Star Trek…

Donny Osmond

Donny Osmond, for those who don’t know him, was once a popular teen idol. But he’s first and foremost a devout Mormon, and as such has been pretty offended by Gaga’s behavior and style over the years. In 2010, he lashed out against Gaga’s music video for Telephone, going as far as issuing a statement about it. Donny argued the music industry needs to change its policies, and think about who might see these type of explicit videos.

“I wouldn’t want my child to watch this”

Sure, much of what Gaga and many other artists do today is intentionally provocative and explicit, and that’s not for everyone. But why Danny Osmond felt the need to attack specifically Gaga for Telephone, we don’t know. In an official statement that no one asked for, her said he would not want his child to see the video. He also warned people about the dangers of the internet, as everyone with an internet connection can find these videos.

Deadmau5

The Canadian DJ Deadmau5 is clearly not a fan of neither Lady Gaga nor the performance artist Marina Abramovic. So when these two women collaborated, he couldn’t help but send some rude comments Gaga’s way. Gaga did an artsy video with Marina, that was a little bit out there, and probably had many scratch their heads as to what it really meant. But Deadmau5 took it one step further and mocked the “artistry” on Twitter.

Little Monsters taking it too far

Just like some other Gaga hating celebs before him, Deadmau5 vastly underestimated Gaga’s massive, loyal fanbase (commonly referred to as Little Monsters). They came for him, en masse, on Twitter. But Deadmau5 did not back down, and the fans got increasingly threatening…. Eventually Gaga herself got involved. She never commented on what Daedmau5 said about her and Marina’s performance video, but instead told her fans to be respectful of others and not spread negativity when defending her.

Duncan Jones

If the one and only David Bowie’s son comes after you – you should probably be offended. According to most, Gaga paid a beautiful Bowie tribute at the Grammy’s in 2016, honoring the iconic artist who passed away earlier that year. But his son Duncan Jones, a film director, was clearly not impressed. He tweeted a very obvious, and sort of clever, jab at Gaga typing out the dictionary definition of gaga. We’re gonna be honest, we had no idea gaga meant something that negative…

Animal rights activists

Gaga hasn’t only drawn the ire of celebs, but also of entire groups of people and organizations. One of them is PETA, and animal rights activists in general. Which is hardly surprising. Gaga not only wore her infamous raw meat dress to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, she also frequently sported fur coats and hats in the beginning of her career. But in recent years Gaga has toned down her style, and has not made the animal rights activists upset for quite some time.

The Catholics league

We already mentioned how Madonna thinks Gaga has been influenced by her style, and it seems like the devout Catholics of the world agree. Just like they got infuriated with Madonna’s iconic 1989 music video for Like A Prayer, they have been equally unimpressed with Lady Gaga’s creations. The Catholic League For Religious And Civil Rights came out with an official statement regarding Born This Way, calling it a stunt to shock Christians and betray Jesus…Yikes.

Gamblers

Ok, we know this sounds random. Why would gamblers dislike Lady Gaga. Just hear us out. Remember how in 2016, Gaga delivered a stunning performance of the Star-Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl? Everyone loved it. But, gamblers had bet their money on this performance being either over or under 2 minutes and 20 seconds. But because of a few extra notes it was both, making it impossible to win. Talk about annoying, and a reason to feel pretty salty about Lady Gaga…

Madonna and Gaga, Tension Back On Social Media

The old Madonna versus Gaga storyline has flared up again online, with social posts that echo the Born This Way versus Express Yourself spat. Madonna has made comments that remind people of their past comparisons, and that nudged the discussion back into the headlines. Gaga, as she has before, publicly praises Madonna while insisting she has her own musical voice. So the rivalry feels more like a familiar ping-pong match than a brand new fight.

Perez Hilton Fallout Got Personal

What began as an early friendship between Gaga and Perez Hilton turned vicious around the Artpop era, and things got personal. Gaga later described feeling threatened by Hilton and said his behavior crossed a line, while Hilton fired off aggressive replies that even dragged in family. Their versions of one notorious interview still don't match, and the public back-and-forth left lasting scars on that relationship.

Azealia Banks Keeps the Grievances Alive

The planned Azealia Banks collaboration for Artpop never saw the light of day, and that left Banks publicly accusing Gaga of taking her work. Banks has also lobbed barbs about aesthetics and album ideas, while Gaga mostly declined to engage, calling the situation a bad-attitude moment. That one feels unresolved, with sharp words instead of a neat ending.

Gaga Pushes Back, Points To Her Craft

When critics bring up influence and copying, Gaga has routinely pushed back by highlighting her work ethic and musicianship. She points out that she writes, produces, and plays instruments, and that admiration for predecessors can live alongside a unique creative identity. That line of defense reframes many of these clashes as debates over art versus imitation.

Feuds Shift, Fans Keep Reacting

A lot of these grudges have cooled, some have simmered, and a few pop back up when social posts or performances bring old claims back into view. The pattern is familiar: a public jolt, a flurry of fan reaction, and then a new headline or two before things settle. Whatever else, these episodes have become part of Gaga's story, messy and entertaining in equal measure.