‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Star Lady Gaga Reflects on “Painful” and “Unhinged” Backlash

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Lady Gaga first appeared in films with small roles in a couple of movies directed by Robert Rodriguez in the early 2010s. However, she gained significant attention as an actress with the 2018 remake of A Star Is Born, proving she could succeed both as a musician and an actor. Her subsequent films didn’t perform as well, and while her portrayal of Harley Quinn in the 2024 Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, received less criticism than the film itself, the movie as a whole was poorly received. Gaga has now shared that while she initially found the negative reaction amusing, the strong backlash eventually became upsetting.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the singer and actress discussed her career in music and film. While she’s received praise for her acting roles, she revealed she struggled during filming. She said she filmed A Star Is Born while taking lithium and admitted she wasn’t doing well while making House of Gucci. She seemed to have a much better experience with Joker 2, explaining that she felt artistically rebellious and energized by the negativity surrounding the first Joker film.

The Negative Reception Toward ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Became “Painful”


Warner Bros. Pictures

Joker: Folie à Deux debuted at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2024 to a very enthusiastic response – the audience gave the film a long standing ovation, and Lady Gaga received immediate praise for her performance, which added a surprising musical element. However, when Joker 2 was released in theaters a month later, public opinion shifted.

Honestly, people didn’t seem to love the new movie as much as we’d hoped. While it did okay at the box office, it just didn’t really click with viewers – it was a very different feel from the first one, and director Todd Phillips took some big risks with the tone and story. The critics weren’t impressed either, and right now, it’s sitting with pretty low scores – only 31% from both critics and general audiences.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the actor and singer discussed the negative reaction to the movie, which grew as more people saw it. Warner Bros. was unable to manage the criticism. While the first Joker film received 11 Academy Award nominations (winning awards for Best Actor and Best Original Score), Joker: Folie à Deux wasn’t nominated for any Oscars. Instead, it received several nominations for the Razzie Awards, which recognize the worst films of the year. Here’s what Lady Gaga said about the film’s negative reception:

I definitely wasn’t calm. It’s strange, I’m actually a little hesitant to admit how I reacted. But honestly, when it began, I just started laughing. It was becoming so chaotic and unexpected.

It’s harder when something lingers and doesn’t easily fade, especially when I’ve invested a lot of my energy and emotions into it.

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2025-11-14 18:32