From Grace Jones to Donny Osmond...
GIGWISE

11:45 20th April 2010

Lady Gaga is undoubtedly the biggest pop star on the planet right now, however, there are a growing number of music stars, celebrities and naysayers who are sticking the boot in and giving Gaga a good verbal lashing. From Grace Jones to M.I.A. to everyone's least favourite Republican newsreader Bill O'Reilly, Gigwise takes a look at all the Gaga dissers...

  • M.I.A. - In April 2010, M.I.A. (Maya Arulpragasam) hit out at Lady Gaga calling the pop star merely "a good mimic" and comparing her music to "20 year-old Ibiza disco." Accusing Gaga of aping herself, Grace Jones and Madonna, M.I.A. added to the NME: "She's not progressive, but she's a good mimic. She sounds more like me than I fucking do! That's a talent, but she's the industry's last stab at making itself important." Handbags please.

  • Grace Jones - The flamboyant pop veteran was asked by The Guardian in April 2010 whether she would ever take up Gaga's offer to collaborate with her. Jones' response was less than complimentary. “I said no,” she explained. “I'd just prefer to work with someone who is more original and someone who is not copying me, actually." She added: I've seen some things she's worn that I've worn, and that does kind of piss me off.” We await Gaga's response with baited breath.

  • Alan Donohoe – Back in March 2009, the then Rakes frontman Alan Donohoe launched a tirade against Gaga in an interview with the Daily Star, calling her an “ugly prostitute.” "Lady GaGa is trash and dresses like a prostitute,” he ranted. “I think she’s terrible and really ugly. I hate her." Since the comments, The Rakes split up after failing to dent the UK top 100 with their third album 'Klang'. Lady Gaga has become the biggest pop star on the planet.

  • Bill O'Reilly – The Fox News presenter and number one fan of Nas reviewed Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' video on The O'Reilly Factor in March 2010. Along with his guests, he questioned the suitability of the video for young children. However, somewhat disturbingly, O'Reilly ended the debate by saying: "If my daughter looks like Lady Gaga, she doesn't get out of the basement. That's it. Ever.” We won't mention the obvious parallel to a certain Austrian there...

  • Whitney Houston - While she doesn't name any names, Whitney Houston apparently alluded to Lady Gaga and Rihanna in a March 2010 interview. Discussing pop stars and their image, Houston said: "If you look behind a lot of the people that are out there that are wearing these, you know, weird clothing... I've just seen for myself there are some extremely gifted and talented young women and young men out there who don't have to put on Halloween costumes, just be themselves." She continued: "A little extravagance, a little flair, a little sexiness or sultriness is cool, but some of them are very dark."

  • Just Jack – The purveyor of turgid tunes like 'Starz In Their Eyes', hit out at Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry for their use of auto-tune in the studio. "A lot of modern songs rely on Auto-Tune too much - not as a tool for tuning, but for giving vocals that weird brittle effect," the 34-year-old ranted to Digital Spy. "It makes people like Rihanna, Lady GaGa and Katy Perry all the fucking same. I like organic elements in music. I like a vocal that sounds like it came out of someone's mouth rather than a weird singing robot."

  • Donny Osmond - The clean-cut Mormon singer hit out at Gaga over her "explicit" video for 'Telephone'. The Jonas Akerlund co-directed promo features nudity, cross-dressing and swearing from Gaga ('mother-fucker' to be precise) much to the disdain of Osmond. I wouldn't want my child to watch this video," he said. "Unlike 20 years ago, in today's modern, viral world in which content becomes instantaneously available irrespective of age, I wonder whether the music industry might need to rethink its marketing policies with regard to making an explicit music video containing profanity, sexual exploitation, nudity, and graphic violence available to anyone with Internet access."

  • India Arie - The acclaimed soul singer took a swipe at Lady Gaga calling her 'Telephone' video "socially irresponsible." She asked her followers on Twitter after viewing the video in March "Am I the only one who thinks the telephone video is going a bit too far?" She then added: "I agree gaga is being her image... I dig her creative mind But still...Theres a such thing as socially irresponsible (sic). I respect the creative mind but disagree with the 'choices' as a dish meant to be served for mass consumption... Crazy to me that the Dark, underbelly, shock at all cost thing is a TREND like asymmetrical hair and big shoulder jackets. Slippery slope!"

  • Rihanna - In an indirect critique of Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' promo, Rihanna admitted she hated product placement in music videos. Gaga's video was criticised by many for featuring overt nods to a mobile phone company and a dating website which we won't give the pleasure of naming. Rihanna told NME.com: "I don't like things to be so commercial. I hate product placement in my videos. Videos should just tell the story of the song." Other than product placement issues, however, Rihanna and Gaga get on swimmingly.

  • Gabriella Climi - In February 2009, Australian pop star Gabriella Climi criticised Gaga for her scantily clad ways. She said: "I saw this picture of Lady GaGa touching her crotch and I wasn't keen on that. She needs to put some clothes on." Before adding: "Eventually you're just going to catch something and have to go to hospital if you keep walking around in your bra and knickers."


Photo: WENN.com / Shirlaine Forrest / Splash News