UPDATE UPDATE: Lady Gaga WILL let "Weird Al" Yankovic "Perform This Way"
In case you haven’t heard, we as a culture are back to hating Lady Gaga this week, thanks to her teary assertions that her latest single, “Judas,” was sent to her by God, her refusal to acknowledge the similarities between “Born This Way” and “Express Yourself,” and a hilariously bad (and meme-worthy) album cover. But she may have crossed a line with her latest exploit: refusing pop-music patron saint “Weird Al” Yankovic.
According to a lengthy post on Weird Al’s blog, Gaga wouldn’t give permission for him to release the parody “Perform This Way”—a hiccup that has subsequently delayed the release of Yankovic’s upcoming album. Weird Al has historically always sought (and received) permission for his parodies, presumably expecting that most pop stars, regardless of how notorious their three-year careers have been, are willing to defer to his three-decades-plus track record of musical success and being a generally awesome and beloved figure. But apparently this is one of Madonna’s footsteps Gaga isn’t willing to follow in, even after Weird Al offered to donate all proceeds from the song and video to the Human Rights Campaign.
