Lady Gaga ponders her history with sexual assault, removes R Kelly's song from iTunes

A Star is Born movie actress-singer Lady Gaga once performed with hip-hop performer R. Kelly in 2013 for her album, Artpop. After the sexual abuse and misconduct allegations against Kelly surfaced, Lady Gaga has decided to pull her song "Do What U Want (With My Body)" from Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music.

Earlier this week, "Shallow" singer tweeted an explanation in a tweet that stated, "I stand by anyone who has ever been the victim of sexual assault." The Golden Globe winner wrote that she believes in the women who have come forward. She further talked about the song and stated that the song itself reflected her own twisted thinking at the time.

"I stand behind these women 1,000%, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain, and feel strongly that their voices should be heard and taken seriously. What I am hearing about the allegations against R Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible."

Lady Gaga further stated that if she could go back and have a conversation with her younger self, she would tell her to go through the therapy. But since she cannot go back in time and change the things, she can actually make the present better by supporting everyone who is the victim of sexual assault.

"As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made the song and video at a dark time in my life, my intention was to create something extremely defiant and provocative because I was angry and still hadn't processed the trauma that had occurred in my own life. The song is called "Do What U Want (With My Body)", I think it's clear how explicitly twisted my thinking was at the time."

You can read her entire message here.

Since the early 1990s, the "You Are Not Alone" songwriter R. Kelly has been the subject of numerous allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, often with underage women. In 2002, Kelly was indicted on 21 counts of child pornography but was later acquitted of all the charges.

On January 3, 2019, Lifetime aired a documentary, Surviving R. Kelly that details the rapper's sexual abuse and misconduct. As of current reports, Kelly plans to take legal action against the creators of Surviving R. Kelly. Some sources have even stated that the American rapper plans to discredit all his accusers.