Pop star Lady Gaga did not mince words in a lengthy Instagram message Monday calling out the negative responses to an International Women’s Day post she was featured in last week with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
The initial post, shared Friday from Mulvaney’s Instagram account, included several images and a video of Mulvaney and Lady Gaga with a message that said, “Happy international women’s day.” The day is celebrated annually on March 8. The post garnered more than 340,000 likes and over 3,200 comments, including many that misgendered Mulvaney.
“It’s appalling to me that a post about National Women’s Day by Dylan Mulvaney and me would be met with such vitriol and hatred,” Lady Gaga wrote Monday on Instagram, where she has more than 56 million followers. “This is not backlash. This is hatred.”
While the Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer-songwriter said she was appalled by some of the reactions, she added that they were “not surprising given the immense work that it’s obvious we still have to do as a society to make room for transgender lives to be cherished and upheld by all of us.”
“I feel very protective in this moment, not only of Dylan, but of the trans community who continues to lead the way with their endless grace and inspiration in the face of constant degradation, intolerance, and physical, verbal, and mental violence,” Lady Gaga continued. “I hope all women will come together to honor us ALL for International Women’s Day, and may we do that always until THE DAY that all women are celebrated equally.”
Mulvaney responded to Lady Gaga’s post, writing in the comments, “You mean the world to me. Love ya.”
Mulvaney, a 27-year-old trans advocate, actress and social media star, gained national recognition after she started chronicling her gender transition in October 2022 in her “Days of Girlhood” videos on TikTok, where she currently has more than 10 million followers.
It wasn’t until April of last year, however, when she partnered with Bud Light on a March Madness social media campaign that she became the target of a viral, right-wing hate campaign. In June, Mulvaney responded to the onslaught, revealing in a TikTok video that she was subjected to “more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined.”