Lady Gaga wore a bulletproof vest during her performance at the Inauguration
“It was a scary time in this country,” Gaga tells Stephen Colbert on The Late Show
During her interview on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night, Lady Gaga discussed the magic of working with friend and jazz legend Tony Bennett on their newly Grammy-nominated album, Love For Sale, her method acting in Ridley Scott’s House Of Gucci, and her performance of the “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration earlier this year.
The actor and singer revealed she didn’t just wear a giant gold dove brooch to the inaugural event—she also wore a bulletproof vest. As part of the design of her blue and red gown, a bulletproof vest was sewn into the fabric of the Maison Schiaparelli dress.
“It was a scary time in this country,” Gaga told Colbert. “I care a lot about my family and as a performer I understand that I put myself in all types of dangerous situations in order to do what I love. I did that for myself but also so my family, my Mom and my Dad and my sister would feel confident.”
Which makes sense. The country was coming off of a hotly contested election involving weeks of bickering over ballots, which ultimately led up to the violent January 6 insurrection. Things were tense in the country building up to the inaugural event—to say the least.
Gaga also delved into the planning behind the standout moment during her performance, in which she gestured to the American flag during the line, “That our flag was still there.”
“What’s funny about this moment, in addition to it being emotional and powerful for me as a singer was that—believe it or not—they actually moved the flag,” Gaga said
“I went out to the rehearsal and planned to find the glad and point at it as I sang that part. What I didn’t realize was that they were going to move the flag, and when I got out there I started turning and I said ‘Oh girl, just keep turning and maybe it’ll show up.’”
Ridley Scott’s House Of Gucci, starring Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, and Al Pacino, arrives in theaters tomorrow, November 24. Tony Bennett and Gaga’s television special, One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, airs on CBS on Sunday, November 28. The special features Bennett’s final public performances at New York City’s Radio Music Hall, in which he shared the stage with Gaga. One Last Time will also be available in the following days on Paramount Plus.