There is a fine line between honoring the dead and using tragedy to draw attention to yourself. Has Lady Gaga crossed it?
All last week the Grammy Award winner mourned publicly for her late fellow songstress Amy Winehouse, who was found dead in her London apartment July 23.
In a recent Rolling Stone interview, she spoke to how the “Rehab” singer’s death impacted her.
“It really affected me quite deeply,” Lady Gaga explained. “Isn’t it strange to say ‘She is,’ and now I have to say ‘She was?’ I’m just really glad that we got to admire her and tell her how much we loved her when she was alive. I hope she knows now in Heaven, where she is, how much we all loved her.”
Lady Gaga again brought up the late 27-year-old Brit during an August 1 taping of “The View.”
“I’m just so devastated,” she said. “And so sad. I really couldn’t speak for 48 hours straight. I was in such shock.”
This isn’t the first time the “Monster” singer conveyed her sorrow at a fellow pop star’s untimely death. In a 2010 Larry King interview, she said it was difficult to talk about how she was going to open for Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” tour, because it was “personal,” but that she would discuss it anyway.
“Michael’s death was devastating for me regardless of whether or not I was supposed to go on tour with him,” she said.
In both instances, Gaga expressed sadness for losing a great source of inspiration. She also seemed to blame the media for the destruction of her colleagues. (RELATED: Advocacy group blasts Lady Gaga for rolling onstage on wheelchair)
Of Amy, she said, “She’s really special. She just gave me a lot of hope and she deserved a lot better than what people gave her. And I hope that the world learns a lesson from this. I really hope they do. Because it’s not her lesson to learn – it’s the world’s.”