Stephanie Mills Recalls Encounter With Lady Gaga and Calls Her a Culture Vulture

Stephanie Mills called Lady Gaga a culture vulture and recounted a disappointing encounter with her during a recent appearance on The Jason Lee Show.

During the interview posted Wednesday, Oct. 14, Mills shared a story from years ago. She said Gaga’s team asked her to perform her signature track Home from the 1975 Wizard of Oz Broadway adaptation for Gaga at a photo shoot in New York. Mills recalled being told that Home was Lady Gaga’s favorite song and being asked to surprise her by singing it. She initially refused before being talked into it.

Mills stated that Gaga sat with her little black dog and other people while she sang without smiling or reacting, looking at her like she had two heads. After she finished singing and took pictures, staff forced everyone to delete every image before leaving.

When host Jason Lee noted that Gaga has watched his show before, Mills addressed the 16-time Grammy winner directly, stating she hopes Gaga watches, remembers what she did, and owes her an apology.

Mills elaborated on her culture vulture comment by pointing out that Gaga was managed by Black men and recorded a song with R. Kelly. Lee added that Gaga later worked with Tony Bennett and forgot Black people.

Mills added that she previously admired Gaga, no longer does, but still respects everyone.

Billboard reached out to Gaga’s representatives for comment.

The discussion began while Mills talked about how Black women have historically been pitted against each other. People often tried to create conflict between her and Diana Ross, who played Dorothy Gale in the film adaptation of The Wiz after Mills played the role in the original Broadway cast.

Mills dispelled rumors of real-life tension with Ross, stating she loves her, considers her the epitome of glamour, and never felt ill toward her. She noted neither has ever said a bad word about the other.

Michael Jackson loved both of them, Mills added, noting that society pits Black people against each other rather than pairing Lady Gaga against Barbra Streisand.

The full episode of The Jason Lee Show is available below.