Unbreakable: My New Autobiography (9 page)

In the three years since then, his image has changed. Three years seems like nothing to us, but when you’re sixteen to nineteen it seems an eternity. So what we have here is basically a child entertainer who is a worldwide pop star. He’s very talented, very charismatic and to all his fans he represents youth, great pop music and fun. Unfortunately for Justin, growing up in the public eye is hideous, but even more so for someone in his position. Historically, entertainers his age in pop music have a short shelf time. It comes with the territory, especially when you don’t write your own songs and your audience is made up of teenage girls. Their taste in music changes just as their taste in fashion does – and what does that do for people like Justin?

I’ve been pretty hard on him when we’ve discussed him on
The Talk
, but looking at him as a mother, my heart goes out to him. Yes, he’s hugely successful and making millions for everyone around him. And this business is so cruel, so hard, that I’m afraid it might eat him up and shit him out. As a manager looking in, sure his people are doing a great job. But as a
mother
, I see this nineteen-year-old pop star who sings ‘Baby Baby Baby’, who wants to be a tough guy, hanging with his mates and causing trouble as most normal nineteen-year-old boys do. But I’m sure his record company and advisers want to hear another ‘Baby Baby Baby’, so there must be conflict within him. I sympathise, because it’s the hardest thing to be a child entertainer and then make that transition to grown-up artist. But Justin Timberlake managed it. He is the model Justin Bieber should be focusing on.

The boy I met doing the Best Buy commercial was delightful and under the brash exterior of someone now trying to be an edgy ‘bro’ (but who is actually just being a pain in the arse), I still see that childlike innocence and I hope he comes out the other side of all this in one piece.

No doubt after writing this I will attract the legendary opprobrium of Justin’s devoted followers, the Beliebers. Bring it on, girls. In a couple of years’ time, when you’re slightly older and a whole lot wiser, you’ll see my point.

The other day, I was reading an article about Harry Styles from One Direction writing some solo material and I thought, Here we go, it’s Robbie Williams all over again.

I have to hand it to Simon on this one. When he first started
The X Factor
he was constantly saying, ‘I want to find an ‘N Sync, I want to find a Spice Girls.’ Oh my God, he really did with One Direction. They are, at this moment, the biggest boy band in the world and they came from little old
X Factor
UK. Basically, they’re five little boys who look great, with great personalities too, but OK singers. I don’t think they would have made it alone, but you put them together and you create magic.

Again, we have musical history repeating itself. We’ve seen this kind of success in the past with the Jacksons, the Osmonds, Backstreet Boys, Bros, Take That, the Bay City Rollers, ‘N Sync, New Kids on the Block and let’s not forget the fabulous Spice Girls. Each group represented their generation, their time. Each had amazing worldwide success, generating millions, but having a specific shelf life. Boy bands are like athletes. Their careers are like a flame. They burn strong and bright but only for a short period of time. Also, in any group you’re dealing with different personalities of course, and history tells us again that there’s a honeymoon period and after that, because of egos, musical differences, maturity or immaturity, people change and they want different things. How often have we seen the most popular one or the cheekiest one leave to pursue a solo career? Some of the bands I have mentioned have reunited in recent years and have had success for a second time but I think it’s only Justin Timberlake, Robbie Williams, Gary Barlow and Michael Jackson who can truly say they made it on their own. Based on past musical history you would give One Direction another three years and – being the betting woman I am – I would say Harry Styles will be the first one to leave the group for a solo career. Let’s see. It’s fascinating being an outsider looking in on these scenarios.

When you consider the 60s club, each of them is a pioneer in the industry. Elton John, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Robert Plant, Ozzy, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper. Each one of them is a quintessential artist who represents their genre. When they are gone, who will take over? These are icons of their individual musical genres, unique and irreplaceable.

Of the newer artists, Adele stands out to me in the same way. She is a breath of fresh air in the music industry. She had her first hit record when she was just eighteen, her first album was nominated for a Grammy and her second album
won
the Grammy. She’s an artist who goes way beyond any particular demographic; her music speaks a universal language. At a time when many stars in the industry couldn’t sell albums any more, she came along and proved a point. You can still sell tens of millions of albums worldwide. Her audience ranges from kids to pensioners.

Artists like Adele come once in a lifetime. She arrived at a time when music executives were screaming about illegal downloading, music streaming services, YouTube, the demise of MTV as a music channel, the prevalence of iTunes leading to record stores closing by the thousands. And Adele proved that if the music was right, it would sell. Taylor Swift – who appeals particularly to a younger audience – also came out of nowhere and sold millions.

The thing that always amazes me about this industry is that, decade after decade, people make slamming statements like, ‘Heavy metal is over,’ ‘Grunge is over,’ ‘Boy bands are over,’ ‘There is no record industry any more and DJs are the new rock stars.’ And then from virtually nowhere you get these ground-breaking artists who change all the rules and the face of the industry. It’s amazing what one artist like Adele can do for a record label. The fact is, there are no rules, there are no standards, there are no ‘ABC’s and that’s what makes the record industry so exciting, sexy and innovative. There’s always a new generation with a new talent pool waiting to be discovered.

Kelly works as an international fashion correspondent on
Fashion Police
, hosted by the brilliantly acerbic Joan Rivers, famous for poking fun at Hollywood celebrities as well as herself. As the title suggests, the idea behind the show is to critique what famous people wear to various red-carpet events, so if, like Lady Gaga, you have a fondness for wacky outfits, then it’s fairly likely you’re going to attract attention. Some might say you’re actively seeking that attention.

At the 2012 Grammy Awards, Gaga skipped the red-carpet bit but appeared inside wearing a bizarre dominatrix outfit that caused quite a stir. It had a mesh veil that covered her face and a long flap at the front that covered her stomach area. Her breasts seemed larger than usual, and Kelly speculated that she might be pregnant.

Well, that off-the-cuff comment unleashed a torrent of abuse against Kelly on Twitter, from Gaga’s fans – or ‘little monsters’ as Gaga calls them. Some of it was really nasty stuff, saying that Kelly should be raped or murdered.

Obviously, she was upset, not to mention disturbed, by this – and it didn’t let up. Their threatening, horrible messages continued to come. It was like a tsunami and went on and on and on.

As I know Gaga’s manager, I contacted him and asked if she could just post something on her website to tell her fans to lighten up on Kelly. Gaga is the self-proclaimed poster child for anti-bullying.

She and I had actually met. We had been moderators with Cyndi Lauper for the make-up company MAC, when they were doing the Viva Glam campaign, and we had hosted a press conference too and had a great day together. As I’d also met her a couple of times with Elton John, I didn’t think there would be a problem.

Her manager said, ‘I’m on it,’ but I didn’t hear from him again and nothing appeared on her website. Then the comments got worse and worse, to the point where Kelly called me in floods of tears.

‘Mummy, it’s just never-ending.’

Eventually, in May 2013, Kelly did a magazine interview in which she mentioned that Gaga’s fans were some of the worst for bullying her and that, in her view, the star was a hypocrite for not stopping it. In the meantime I emailed the manager, politely reminding him that I had asked before and nothing was done, but could Gaga please tell her fans to cool it with Kelly, as it was becoming really uncomfortable and upsetting for her. I sent him a link to a fan blog that suggested my daughter ‘needs to kill herself’, and reminding him that Gaga was a vocal campaigner against bullying:

Vince,

I’m leaving it in your hands to do the right thing here. One tweet from Gaga can change this whole situation. I’m not asking her to deal with this directly but if she could tweet something to her fans about being more respectful that may end this. I’m sure she doesn’t condone her fans saying such hideously offensive things.

Wishing you and your family the best in 2013.

All the best,

Sharon

Within one hour Gaga posted a reply to Kelly on her website, signed off by her and her mother Cynthia, as co-founders of the anti-bullying charity, the Born This Way Foundation. It was a pompous statement about promoting positivity, criticising Kelly for ‘choosing a less compassionate path’ in her job on
Fashion Police
, and saying that she, Gaga, was a ‘woman that cares deeply for humanity’.

However, it seems that her humanity doesn’t appear to extend to telling her fans to back off from sending relentlessly bullying comments to a young woman so obviously distressed by them. She could easily have done that, but instead she said that, while she actively discourages the fans from negativity and violence in general, she can’t control them.

I’m afraid that, as the reply was from her mother too, I saw red and thought, That’s it, the gloves are off. If
your
mother’s in it, I am too.

She may well have been bullied at school and been the outcast, but she was also the little rich kid from New York that got everything she fucking wanted. She should know better.

So I responded in an open letter and went to town on her, saying she was a hypocrite.

Ms Gaga,

I am responding to your open letter to my daughter Kelly, and I am perplexed as to why you would go public with an open letter. Regarding this current situation: Kelly didn’t contact you, I was the one that contacted your manager today and the email is attached below for your reference. I reached out to him as Kelly’s manager and mother to ask him if you could address your ‘little monster’ fans and stop them from writing libellous, slanderous and vile comments about my family, including death threats to Kelly. Your open letter is hypocritical and full of contradictions. And as your mother Cynthia supports you, I support my daughter Kelly. I must say, your opinions on what is politically correct and acceptable totally differ from mine, but that is what makes the world so interesting… we are all different. How sweet that you have empathy for my daughter, as you feel that she has taken a less compassionate path in life. You say her work on E! with the
Fashion Police
is ‘rooted in criticism, judgment, and rating people’s beauty against one another’. Welcome to the real world. Example, when I saw you wear a dress made out of raw meat, I was sickened. When I see you wearing fur, and using it as a fashion statement, the fact that defenceless animals have been killed so you can get your picture in the press is abhorrent to me. Shouldn’t you be teaching your ‘little monster’ fans to respect animals, and life? I don’t feel I have to justify Kelly’s choices in life to you. By your actions to Kelly right now, you have shown me that you are nothing more than a publicity-seeking hypocrite and an attention seeker. You know it would have been much more dignified of you to do this privately. I am calling you a bully because you have 32 million followers hanging on your every word and you are criticising Kelly in your open letter. Are you so desperate that you needed to make this public?

You state: ‘Every day, through my music and public voice, I choose to be positive and work towards a kinder and braver world with our community of followers.’ This is obviously not translating well to your fans, as a large portion of them have not only been vile to Kelly, but also to other celebrities such as Madonna, Adele and Rihanna. You say ‘a kinder and braver world’. I don’t know what world you live in, but supporting disgraceful fan comments doesn’t fall under the words ‘kinder and braver’. It comes under the heading of bullshit.

In closing, stop wearing fur, stop looking for publicity and stop using your fans to belittle not just Kelly but an endless stream of celebrities. A word from you would stop all the hideous, negative and vile threats from your ‘little monsters’. Let me know if you want to continue this debate. I’m an open playing field for you, my darling.

Sincerely,

Sharon Osbourne

As far as I am concerned, everything that Gaga is trying to stop – i.e., bullying – she’s perpetuating by not telling her fans to do the same. That’s the responsibility. If you’re an artist, and your followers are threatening other people, you can’t just give them free rein. That’s insane behaviour, especially for the times that we live in when kids are going to school and fucking mowing down their classmates.

By not repudiating her fans’ bullying behaviour towards Kelly and others, she was condoning it. And that’s why I called her a hypocrite.

I was so disappointed with her attitude because I had always been a huge fan. I have been to three of her shows and she’s undeniably a very talented woman. But you can’t bang on about being anti-bullying and then refuse to tell your fans directly to stop haranguing other young women with nasty threats.