When discussing with NME magazine the persistent sentiment that her song “Born This Way” bears—from the tune’s melody to its message to the video’s imagery—a more than passing resemblance to Madonna‘s “Express Yourself,” she attempted to defend her artistic integrity by denying that there was any intentional similarity.
“I swear to you. I am not stupid enough to put out a record and be that moronic,” she told the mag.
“Listen to me. Why the f–k…? I’m a songwriter. I’ve written loads of music. Why would I try to put out a song and think I’m getting one over on everybody? That’s retarded. What a completely ridiculous thing to even question me about.
But according to some equal rights activists (who ordinarily hail the singer’s inclusive comments), the only completely ridiculous thing about it was Lady Gaga’s unfortunate word choice.
In fairness to the singer, she was obviously shaken by the line of questioning, just moments later, according to the magazine, starting to cry, tell of her “shell-shockedness” and concern that fans don’t think her a plagiarist. But if that’s her defense, she’s gonna have to do better.