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Lady Gaga has spoken out about the critical and commercial response to last year’s Joker: Folie à Deux.
The musician and actor, 38, appeared in Todd Phillips’s comic book sequel as Harleen Quinzel, the love interest of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck.
The film divided critics. While some praised the film, including The Independent’s Geoffrey McNab who awarded it four stars, it was largely panned and currently has a score of just 31% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
It also failed to perform at the box office, earning just $207 million worldwide against an estimated $200 million budget. Industry analysts have calculated that studio Warner Bros. likely lost between $150 million and $200 million on the film’s theatrical run.
In a new interview with Elle magazine, Gaga was asked about the film’s reception and responded: “People just sometimes don’t like some things.”
She continued: “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 is one of the most-nominated films at this year’s 2025 Golden Raspberry Awards, known as the Razzies, an award show that claims to salute the year’s biggest cinematic failures.
The film has six nominations in total, level with Borderlands, Madame Web, Megalopolis and Reagan, which are all up for the Worst Picture award.
Gaga is nominated in the Worst Actress category, Phoenix for Worst Actor and Phillips for Worst Director.
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Meanwhile, Gaga is switching her focus back to music. She recently announced the forthcoming release of her seventh studio album Mayhem, which is due to arrive on March 7.
According to a press announcement, “Mayhem reinvents her early sound with a kaleidoscopic approach that draws from her expansive musical library while embracing a fresh and fearless artistic perspective.”
Her last album Harlequin was a companion album for Joker: Folie à Deux that climbed no higher than No. 20 on the Billboard 200.
Gaga also is set to join artists including Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchell at the FireAid benefit on Thursday (January 30), which aims to raise money for the people and communities devastated by the recent devastating fires in Los Angeles.
An official statement says that funds raised by the concerts “will be distributed for short-term relief efforts and long term initiatives to prevent future fire disasters throughout California.”
