Linda Perry Calls Bullshit On Lady Gaga’s Oscar Nom: “She Only Rewrote One Line”
“‘Til It Happens To You” is a song that Lady Gaga co-wrote with Diane Warren for a recent documentary about sexual assault on college campuses. The Hunting Ground was released about a year ago, and the song has earned Gaga — who has been successfully rebranding herself since Artpop tanked — a fair amount of cred. Gaga and Warren shared an Oscar nomination for “‘Til It Happens To You,” though it’s been reported that Warren wrote the bulk of the track’s lyrics with Gaga contributing a single line. Warren, whose songs have been nominated for Oscars seven times before this, gave Gaga props for taking the track to “another level.” She seems pretty happy to have an eighth nomination under her belt, regardless of whose name it’s technically credited to. Songwriting veteran Linda Perry, on the other hand, didn’t think Gaga earned the nom at all. Perry took to Twitter early this morning to address the issue:
Normally I wouldn't respond to all this but I don't know Im feeling spunky. There was another artist that originally was gonna sing #TIHTY
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
I have Diane's original demo with her singing. The only line that has been changed "Till you're at the end, the end of your rope"
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
Originally was "TIL YOU GOT A HOLE RIPPED IN YOUR SOUL". So I guess technically one line was changed so sure Gaga possibly "rewrote" a line
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
But chances are Diane still took part in rewriting that line which means Gaga contributed a few words. Is that writing? Not in my book.
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
I love Gaga so much respect and love this song that has nothing to do with anything. Why did Gaga get credit? Maybe because …
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
Diane wanted to ensure her support in promoting the song. Gaga is a very smart business women she knew a song written by Diane Warren
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
Would be up for an Oscar. And you know it's hard getting music out there and heard. Especially a song from a documentary , so Diane knew
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
If she gave Gaga writing credit it would ensure the support this song needed and deserved. And Gaga knows her power. I'm not putting anyone
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
Or anything down. I'm stating the truth . I credit Diane for writing this song, it is her experience her pain her words. That's it kids.
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
Good night! What good is twitter if you can't ruffle some feathers once in a while.. #truth
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
…Then Perry responded to Gaga fans:
Listen, one of you Gaga kids got upset when I said Diane wrote a great song. You can't win on Twitter. I'm stating why I didn't include.
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
There's no bitterness, I've stated Gaga killed this song so powerful so blown away by her performance.
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016
This all kind of seems like a non-issue since Gaga explicitly referenced Warren when she thanked the Academy over Twitter last week:
Til It Happens To You my original score with @Diane_Warren for "The Hunting Ground" was nominated for an OSCAR 🎹 pic.twitter.com/S7kJZAY6u5
— The Countess (@ladygaga) January 14, 2016
And on top of that, Gaga mentioned that Warren wrote most of the song in a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times:
It was already kind of a finished piece when I came in to work on it with Diane. We made some changes so it would speak to more people than just rape survivors. The song kind of became a conversation between two women who’d been sexually abused. Finding our common connection through this song and her sharing that with me — Diane doesn’t co-write with anybody, ever — it meant a lot to me; it was really a gift. She was saying, ‘I want to share this with you; this is ours.’ And that’s what we’re saying to people: We want to share our pain with other people.
¯\_(?)_/¯
UPDATE: Diane Warren doesn’t get what all of the fuss is about:
Til It Happens To You was written for The Hunting Ground, an incredibly powerful documentary about sexual assault on college campuses
— Diane Warren (@Diane_Warren) January 18, 2016
The song is the result of a special collaboration between myself and Lady Gaga. As Lady Gaga and I have consistly said. Til it Happens
— Diane Warren (@Diane_Warren) January 18, 2016
To you was inspired by the countless survivors of abuse who need our support and love so they know they're not alone.
— Diane Warren (@Diane_Warren) January 18, 2016
¯\_(?)_/¯ ¯\_(?)_/¯
UPDATE 2: Perry has apologized.
My sincere apologies. I made a mistake to comment. I wasn't in the room when the #TIHTY was being written.
— LINDA PERRY (@RealLindaPerry) January 18, 2016