Lady Gaga's relatives only found out she'd been raped at the Oscars. She revealed she was "too ashamed and afraid" to confide in relatives including her grandmother and aunt about the attack she sustained when she was 19 years old.
However, following her performance at Sunday's Academy Awards, her relatives told her how "proud" they were of her for being brave enough to speak out and that meant the world to her.
Alongside a picture of Ronnie and Sheri, she wrote on Instagram:
"My grandmother and my Aunt Sheri both called me the day after the Oscars because I never told them I was a survivor."I was too ashamed. Too afraid. And it took me a long time to even admit it to myself because I'm Catholic and I knew it was evil but I thought it was my fault.
"I thought it was my fault for ten years. The morning after the Oscars when I talked to my grandmother Ronnie, with tears in her eyes I could hear them welling through the phone she said to me: 'My darling granddaughter, I've never been more proud of you than I am today.' (sic)"And Gaga has urged other people in her situation to "speak up" about their ordeals.She added: "Something I have kept a secret for so long that I was more ashamed of than anything-- became the thing the women in my life were the most proud of."And not just any women, the ones I look up to the most. #BeBrave #speakup #tilithappenstoyou (sic)
