Lady Gaga Breaks Silence on Bradley Cooper’s ‘A Star Is Born’ Oscars Snub

When the Oscar nominations were announced this week, one expected name was absent from the Best Director ballot — Bradley Cooper, who made his directorial debut with 2018’s A Star Is Born.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Lady Gaga, who starred in the film alongside Cooper, expressed her feelings about the snub, sharing that she supports Cooper no matter what.

“Well, you know, you never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “But at the end of the day, he knows that he’s the best director in my eyes, and in all of our eyes as his cast. I know that he’s so happy that we’ve all been nominated and that the film was recognized and we all feel really, really beyond elated for the recognition.”

Cooper had previously earned directing nominations for the film at the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards.

While Cooper wasn’t nominated for Best Director, A Star Is Born scored eight total nods including nominations for Best Original Song for “Shallow,” Best Actress in a Leading Role for Gaga, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Cooper, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Sam Elliot, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing and Best Picture.

The nominations make Gaga the second person to earn acting and music nominations for the same film, with Mary J. Blige having accomplished the feat last year with Mudbound.

There have been rumors that Gaga and Cooper will perform “Shallow” together at the Oscars, something Gaga said would be a “tremendous honor” should it happen.

“It was so sweet, I was getting messages this morning from my [‘Shallow’] co-writers, and they wrote something funny: ‘Tell me something, boy, aren’t you happy we made all that noise?’” she recalled. “I think sometimes people forget that even though this is a big movie, we’re all really artists that are like kids playing in a sandbox. To be recognized at this level just makes the heart explode, because truly and deeply, I still very much feel like a child with big dreams.”

As for her own nominations, the New York native shared that she is “so overwhelmed and happy.”

“There’s really no award that is more esteemed than the Oscar in acting, and for music, it is also extremely special,” Gaga explained. “Since I was a little girl, I always admired all of the artists that put in so much hard work and passion into filmmaking. Watching the award shows, I used to cry with them. It was always like I felt like I was them, even though I wasn’t there. It was always a big deal with my family.”

This year’s Oscars will air Feb. 24 on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Photo Credit: Getty / Kevin Mazur