Lady Gaga Calls Social Media the ‘Toilet of the Internet’

Many people agreed that Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s performance of the Oscar-winning song “Shallow” was the highlight of the most recent Academy Awards ceremony.

While the rest of that awards show earned inspired plenty of heated reactions and controversy, Gaga and Cooper’s performance was elegant and powerful.

The two performed so well together that many people speculated online that perhaps they were more than just co-stars — that there might be a romantic connection that began during their time making “A Star Is Born” together.

On his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Wednesday night, late-night host Kimmel brought up the rumors about them — and Lady Gaga made it clear how she felt about online theories about herself and Cooper, who currently has a girlfriend (with whom he shares a child).

“We were watching it at home and we were like, ‘Oh my, what is going on between these two?’” said Kimmel about the “Shallow” performance.

“You had such a connection with Bradley that instantly — I guess this is a compliment — people started saying like, ‘Oh, they must be dating, they must be in love.”

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Gaga replied by visibly rolling her eyes.

The audience responded with laughter.

“First of all, social media, quite frankly, is the toilet of the internet,” the singer said. “I mean, what it has done to pop culture is abysmal. And yes, people saw love and — guess what? — that’s what we wanted you to see, you know? This is a love song, ‘Shallow.’ The movie, ‘A Star is Born’ — it’s a love story. We worked so hard. We worked all week on that performance.”

Gaga continued, “From a performance perspective, it was so important to both of us that we were connected the entire time. I mean, look, I’ve had my arms wrapped around Tony Bennett for three years touring the world. I mean, when you’re singing love songs, that’s what you want people to feel.”

“Are you having an affair with Tony Bennett? Be honest,” joked Kimmel.

“No, no,” said Gaga. “I’m an artist and I guess we did a good job. Fooled ya!”

“If you work hard and you don’t give up, you can do anything.”

Gaga also told Kimmel her “whole artistic journey” flashed before her eyes when “Shallow” was announced as the winner of the Best Original Song Oscar.

“This was hard work. I said it in my speech and I’ll say it again. If you work hard and you don’t give up, you can do anything,” she said.

Check out Gaga’s interview with Kimmel below: