We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Lady Gaga won't be taking the stage at the 95th annual Academy Awards
While it's Oscars tradition to have all five nominees for "Best Original Song" perform during the prestigious awards show, it turns out that the event will be missing one of its marquee musical acts this year. And because we never get to have nice things, the artist in question is obviously Mother Monster, who's currently nominated for her song "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick.
According to Variety, Oscars broadcast director Glenn Weiss officially confirmed on Wednesday that Gaga won't be able to perform the track, and it's all thanks to another major motion picture.
“We invited all five nominees. We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her camp," Weiss reportedly said during a creative team press conference, prior to explaining explain that the four-time Oscar nominee is "in the middle of shooting" Warner Bros.' Joker: Folie à Deux, where she stars opposite Joaquin Phoenix as Harley Quinn.
"Here, we are honoring the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie after a bunch of back and forth," Weiss said, though he added that Gaga will still be in the audience.
"It didn’t feel like she can get a performance to the caliber that we’re used to with her and that she is used to," he continued. "So, she is not going to perform on the show."
In spite of the Gaga-shaped hole in our hearts, we'll still be able to hear the other four songs, including "Applause" (Tell It Like a Woman) and "Naatu Naatu" (RRR). But what we're really looking forward to is David Byrne, Mitski and Son Lux performing their song "This Is a Life" from Everything Everywhere All at Once, not to mention Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's "Lift Me Up," sung by the one and only Rihanna.
You can read Variety's entire report about Gaga's awards show absence here.
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