Lady Gaga Honors Oscars Performance With New Tattoo

Lady Gaga and the sexual assault survivors from her Oscars performance have all had matching tattoos.

The singer was joined by 50 fellow sexual abuse survivors, who had phrases like, “Not your fault”, “Unbreakable”, and “Survivor” scribbled on their forearms for Gaga’s stirring performance of “Til It Happens To You,” the Best Song nominee from college rape documentary The Hunting Ground.

Gaga had pitched the idea of identical tattoos prior to the performance, and on Friday, she shared a picture of the finished result on Snapchat.

Each of those who opted for the tattoo, an intricate wavy design, decided on a different place for it, with Gaga having it etched on her left shoulder.

It certainly doesn’t look out of place, as the singer already has several other designs on that part of her body – including a flower, a heart, and a swarm of butterflies.

Following her Oscars performance, Gaga admitted she was an emotional mess ahead of the big show because she struggled to accept she was a survivor, too.

“The first day of rehearsal with all the survivors I could barely get myself together,” she wrote on Instagram. “My body was wrecked with inflammation and pain, crying and shaking the whole walk to the stage. The whole night before I did not sleep. The fear of knowing I would finally face that I belonged in that group.

“I told them I was so sorry I couldn’t be Lady Gaga for them, that I couldn’t even get dressed. I could barely get through the song, couldn’t hit any of the high notes.”

The group of survivors hugged her and showed her nothing but support, because they knew she was feeling their pain.

“Without them I never could have felt strong,” she added. “They accepted me for me, at my lowest, and that was good enough for them, so somehow through the magic of their courage they made it good enough for me too.”