Lady Gaga sets the record straight on rumors of romance with Bradley Cooper
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's steamy Oscar performance of "Shallow" from their film "A Star is Born" got the world buzzing about the possibility of a real-life romance between the pair. The pop star set the record straight on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Wednesday night — to the dismay of many fans.
"You had such a connection with Bradley that instantly, and I guess this is a compliment, people started saying, 'Oh, they must be in love,'" said Jimmy Kimmel. Lady Gaga responded with an eye roll and revealed the co-stars were simply acting out the love song — and not truly head over heels for one another.
"Yes, people saw love and guess what? That's what we wanted you to see," said Gaga, "This is a love song, 'Shallow.' The movie 'A Star is Born,' it's a love story."
She explained that since Cooper had directed the film, he also had the "vision" for how the song, which hadn't been officially performed by the stars since the movie's release, should be performed live. The pair did surprise the crowd at a performance of Lady Gaga's "Enigma," one of two shows in her Las Vegas residency at Park MGM resort, in January when Cooper joined the singer onstage for an impromptu rendition of the song.
At Sunday night's Academy Awards, "Everything that you saw, the way that it was shot, the way that they pushed the piano out, you saw them put the piano together, and us walk up onstage, no intro. All of that, that was all him," explained Gaga. "From a performance perspective it was so important to both of us that we were connected the entire time."
She even joked that she "fooled" the audience with their moving show. "When you're singing love songs, that's what you want people to feel," said Gaga. "I'm an artist and I guess we did a good job. Fooled ya!"
Their steamy rendition of the Oscar-winning song spawned countless memes and speculation over social media. Gaga recently split up with her former fiancé, talent agent Christian Carino, while Bradley Cooper has been in a relationship with supermodel Irina Shayk since 2015. The pair have one child together.
Cooper's ex-wife, actress Jennifer Esposito, fueled the rumor mill this week when she commented on comedian David Spade's Instagram photo of the pair singing at the Oscars with, "Ha." Esposito was married to Cooper for less than a year from 2006 to 2007. She later said in an Instagram video that the reaction to her two-letter comment was "psychotic," reports Entertainment Tonight.
Despite the social media buzz, it looks like fans of the film will have to settle for the on-screen love story between Ally and Jackson Maine — not a real-life romance.
