Lady Gaga on the Negativity Surrounding Joker 2: 'People Just Sometimes Don't Like Some Things'

Lady Gaga Addresses the Mixed Reception of 'Joker: Folie à Deux'

Pop icon and actress Lady Gaga has finally addressed the less-than-stellar reception of her latest film, Joker: Folie à Deux. Following the film's release, Gaga, who portrayed Harley Quinn, remained largely silent on the matter, though she did release a companion album, Harlequin. In a recent interview with Elle, she revealed her perspective on the critical and audience response.

Gaga explained that she navigated the negativity, as she does with any challenging project, by managing her expectations beforehand. She acknowledged that some people simply won't connect with certain works, stating, “People just sometimes don’t like some things. 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.”

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Released last October, Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to Todd Phillips' highly successful 2019 film, received mixed reviews, currently holding a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Its theatrical run was short-lived, leading to a swift digital release. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav even described the film's performance as "disappointing."

Gaga acknowledged the challenges of dealing with such feedback, stating that the fear of failure is "part of the mayhem."

Despite the mixed reception of Joker: Folie à Deux, Gaga is moving forward with the release of her new studio album, Mayhem, in March 2025, ending a five-year gap since her last album, Chromatica. For further perspectives on the film, you can explore why Quentin Tarantino praised the sequel and why Hideo Kojima believes its reception will evolve over time. You can also find a list of 2024's biggest cinematic disappointments [here](placeholder for link).