These Leaked Text Messages Are Giving Us a Million Reasons to Believe Lady Gaga Is Shady AF (EXCLUSIVE)

Lady Gaga’s entire career was built on being herself, and in a series of texts made public recently, the star proved she’s willing to do whatever it takes to maintain that image. In 2011, after hearing a leaked track of Jennifer Lopez‘s “Invading My Mind” — which sounded a lot like her then-unreleased single “Judas” — a panicked Gaga texted her producer, RedOne (who worked on both tracks). “We have a big problem,” she wrote. “People will say I stole from J. Lo! I can’t look like a copycat of J. Lo! I am so afraid.”

However, she proposed a solution: “Maybe if you gave me credit on both songs it would avoid comparison?” She even offered to let Jennifer record one of her songs, “Hypnotico,” in exchange.

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Lady Gaga performing ‘Judas’ on May 11, 2011 in Cannes.

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The texts appeared in newly-uncovered court papers for the legal battle between Gaga, 31, and singer-songwriter Rebecca Francescatti, who alleged that the “Million Reasons” singer ripped off her song, “Juda.” RedOne testified that while he agreed to give Gaga credit, she’d done “no work” on “Invading My Mind,” and the case was eventually settled out of court.

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Yet this isn’t the first time the 31-year-old has been accused of stealing other people’s work. Madonna slammed the star for Gaga’s 2011 hit — “Born This Way — which sounded eerily similar to Madge’s “Express Yourself.” “She blatantly ripped off one of my songs,” Madge complained. In the same year, Gaga channeled Bette Midler at a concert in Sydney. “I’ve been doing the singing mermaid in a wheelchair since 1980,” Bette snapped. “You can keep the meat dress and firecracker t–s — mermaid’s mine.”

Meanwhile, the whole thing probably comes as a surprise to J. Lo, 48, who has said, “I kind of lucked out” that Gaga let her have “Hypnotico.” Luck had nothing to do with it, girl!

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