Lady Gaga Discusses Nearly Quitting Music, Teams With Mattel For Teen Empowerment

Even highly successful stars like Lady Gaga question whether they should continue in their professions. In a candid discussion as part of her Emotion Revolution project, in which her Born This Way Foundation teams with Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence, Entertainment Tonight reported that the pop megastar contemplated pulling the pin on her music career.

Lady Gaga mentioned that it was not a decision she took lightly.

“I have had to make decisions. ‘Why am I unhappy? Okay, Stefani (her real name), Gaga, hybrid-person. Why are you unhappy? Why is it that you wanted to quit music years ago?’ ” Lady Gaga said, according to Entertainment Tonight.

Lady Gaga said that part of the way she was able to start finding meaning in what she was doing was simply by saying no to some of the various sponsorships and other commercial opportunities that she discovered was coming her way. “I have a lot more to offer than my image,” she said.

It would seem that Lady Gaga is using what she has to offer beyond her image for further good. In addition to the partnership with Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence, the Hollywood Reporter says that Mother Monster has recently inked a deal, through the Born This Way Foundation, with Mattel’s Monster High division to help teens learn to become empowered and accepted.

The deal, which currently has a three-year term, will see the two agencies work together to “positively affect the next generation of kids by creating a kinder and braver community for young people,” according to Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and general manager for the Monster High line.

Lady Gaga has had a very busy year, and 2015 is not even done yet. In addition to the deal between Mattel and the Born This Way Foundation, Lady Gaga and songwriter Diane Warren were both resoundingly praised for their song, “Til It Happens To You,” which was featured in the documentary about campus rape, The Hunting Ground. Lady Gaga is also enjoying a turn on American Horror Story: Hotel as the Countess, and winning praise for her role there. Finally, in her partnership with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, she is once again becoming known for her candor as she opens up about a range of struggles she has had.

Lady Gaga has, for instance, admitted to ongoing struggles with depression and anxiety, saying that she fights with both of these conditions daily. She noted, however, that once she started to put her happiness ahead of her career, there was a slow turnaround in how she felt about what she was doing.

“Slowly but surely, I remembered who I am,” Lady Gaga admitted, speaking as part of the Emotion Revolution project. “Then you go home and you look in the mirror and you’re like ‘Yes, I can go to bed with you every night.’ Cause that person? I know that person. That person has balls. That person has integrity. That person just doesn’t say yes.”

Lady Gaga’s decision to start saying no to endorsements, however, left some people scratching their heads and wondering whether she was still as famous as she was when she first debuted. According to Bustle, some pundits were wondering whether or not Lady Gaga was beginning to falter as a celebrity by not taking the many endorsement deals that she was being offered.

Put simply, in learning to say no, Lady Gaga has reclaimed her position as exactly what she wanted to be — a strong, empowered woman. Small wonder that the Born This Way Foundation is working with Mattel to help empower teens everywhere. Lady Gaga learned that she had to empower herself as she was encouraging others to feel empowered, and it is certain that people everywhere will take a page out of Lady Gaga’s book as her work with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and Mattel continues.

[Photo by D Dipasupil / Getty Images]