Lady Gaga Responds to Joker 2 Backlash: 'Some Things Just Aren't Liked'

Pop music superstar and actor Lady Gaga has candidly discussed the critical and audience backlash to her latest film, "Joker: Folie à Deux." The Grammy-winning artist, who played a more grounded version of the iconic DC villain Harley Quinn, had remained largely silent about her role in the movie until now. Alongside her performance, Gaga released a companion album titled "Harlequin." In a recent interview with Elle, she opened up about handling the negative reception.

Gaga shared that she copes with criticism by setting realistic expectations. "People just sometimes don’t like some things," she remarked. "It’s that simple. And I think to be an artist, you have to be willing for people to sometimes not like it. And you keep going even if something didn’t connect in the way that you intended."

"Joker: Folie à Deux," a sequel to director Todd Phillips' highly successful 2019 film, premiered last October but failed to impress critics and fans, garnering only a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from both audiences and critics. Our own 5/10 review labeled it a "mediocre" film that "wastes its potential as a movie musical, a courtroom drama, and a sequel that has anything meaningful to say about or add to the first Joker." The movie's disappointing theatrical run led to an early digital release, with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav describing its performance as "disappointing."

Gaga acknowledged the difficulty of dealing with fear of failure, stating, "When that makes its way into your life, that can be hard to get control of. It’s part of the mayhem."

Despite the film's underwhelming reception, Gaga is looking ahead. She recently announced that her new studio album, "Mayhem," will be released this March, marking the end of a five-year hiatus since her last album, "Chromatica." For further insights into "Joker: Folie à Deux," explore why Quentin Tarantino says he loved the sequel and why Hideo Kojima believes the movie’s reception will change over time. Additionally, you can view our list of the biggest disappointments of 2024 here.