Lady Gaga said early Thursday she plans to remove a song she recorded with R. Kelly from iTunes and other streaming services in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against him.
The “Poker Face” pop star said in a tweet that she believes R. Kelley’s accusers and has decided to scrub 2013’s “Do What U Want (With My Body)” from digital music outlets.
“What I am hearing about the allegations against R Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible,” Gaga wrote. “I stand behind these women 1000%, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain, and feel strongly that their voices should be heard and taken seriously.”
She added that her own experience with sexual assault moved her to make the decision, and that she regrets ever recording the song.
“As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made both the song and the video at a dark time in my life,” she wrote. “My intention was to create something extremely defiant and provocative because I was angry and still hadn’t processed the trauma that had occurred in my own life.”
She added: “I’m sorry, both for my poor judgement when I was young and for not speaking out sooner.”
R. Kelly is reportedly under criminal investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting several young girls at his mansion in Georgia. He has denied the allegations.
The many claims of sexual misconduct against him are the subject of a new docuseries that aired on Lifetime. One of the women interviewed by the show’s producers described Kelly overseeing a sex cult with girls who were held against their will.