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Lady Gaga's relatives discovered she was assaulted because of Oscars


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When Lady Gaga performed Til it Happens to You from the campus sexual assault documentary The Hunting Groud at the Oscars, she was joined onstage by survivors of rape. It was a powerful moment aimed at helping those who have been silenced to be heard. And as it turns out, it was even more personal to Gaga than her fans previously knew.

The singer, a survivor of sexual assault, revealed on her Instagram Tuesday that members of her family only found out about her rape because of the performance.

"My grandmother ... and my Aunt Sheri ... both called me the day after the Oscars because I never told them I was a survivor," she wrote under a photo of female members of her family. "I was too ashamed. Too afraid. And it took me a long time to even admit it to myself because I'm Catholic and I knew it was evil but I thought it was my fault. I thought it was my fault for 10 years. "

She went on to say that the morning after the award show, her grandmother called her in tears.

"I could hear (her tears) welling through the phone she said to me, 'My darling granddaughter, I've never been more proud of you than I am today.' Something I have kept a secret for so long that I was more ashamed of than anything — became the thing the women in my life were the most proud of. And not just any women, the ones I look up to the most."

She ended the note with the hashtags, "#BeBrave #speakup #tilithappenstoyou."

You can read Gaga's full Instagram note below: