Lady Gaga Says There’s A ‘Simple’ Reason ‘Joker: Folie À Deux’ Flopped

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Lady Gaga is breaking her silence on the debacle of “Joker: Folie à Deux” months after the film bombed terribly among critics and at the box office.

“People just sometimes don’t like some things,” the actor, 38, told Elle in an interview published Tuesday. “It’s that simple. And I think to be an artist, you have to be willing for people to sometimes not like it. And you keep going even if something didn’t connect in the way that you intended.”

She added that when a fear of failure “makes its way into your life, that can be hard to get control of. It’s part of the mayhem.”

Gaga starred as Lee Quinzel (aka Harley Quinn) opposite Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck (aka Joker) in Todd Phillips’ 2024 film, a sequel to the 2019 original, which was nominated for 11 Oscars and won two. The sequel, in sharp contrast, was dragged through the mud on Rotten Tomatoes, earning a measly 31% score.

Commercially, “Joker” and “Folie à Deux” also met very different fates, with the first movie proving a box-office smash and the second underperforming badly.

Still, the 2024 movie has had its defenders on social media:

Joker Folie A Deux is one of my favorite movies of the year https://t.co/FkAdFh5mtM

— Aaron S Bailey 🍿 (@AaronBaileyArt) January 22, 2025

Say what you will about Joker: Folie à Deux, Joaquin Phoenix does NOT deserve that Razzie nomination for Worst Actor! pic.twitter.com/gdMnCXsgRv

— Brian Rowe (@mrbrianrowe) January 22, 2025

Why did everyone hate Joker: Folie à Deux so much? I just saw it and the main character is a clinically insane man in love with a disturbed arsonist. OF COURSE THEY WILL SING TO ESCAPE REALITY AND HE WILL HAVE A WHOLE ASS MUSICAL IN HIS HEAD. No?

— tiapaooola (@lapacholaa) January 24, 2025

I’m just going to say it.

Joker: Folie à Deux is not a bad movie 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/R6Mj2xZcDn

— Eobard ⚡️ (@ItWasMeBarry63) October 5, 2024

Elsewhere in Gaga’s interview with Elle, the “Poker Face” singer opened up about her upcoming album “Mayhem” — her first solo album in five years — which she confirmed Monday in an Instagram post.

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Mayhem is about following your own chaos into whatever cranny of your life that it takes you to,” Gaga told the outlet. “And in that way, it was about following the songs.”

“Writing as many songs as I did for this album was a labour of total love,” she said. “And then you just have to be very cutthroat by the end.”

“Mayhem” is set to be released March 7.

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