Shortly after catapulting into fame with her debut hit 'Just Dance' in 2008, Lady Gaga became the subject of heartbreaking speculation about her gender.

For years, malicious online trolls have perpetuated rumors that the chart-topping artist was actually born male and had been presenting as female in the public eye.

This also led to a distressing doctored photo of the singer gaining traction on social media.

Initially, Gaga chose not to acknowledge these discussions—neither confirming nor denying them—and as a result, the rumors continued to proliferate online without pause.

In 2011, broadcast journalist Anderson Cooper attempted to question the star about these claims, to which the 'Pokerface' sensation retorted: "Why on earth would I waste my time issuing a press release about whether or not I have a penis?"

At that time, Gaga insisted: "My fans don’t care, and neither do I."

She later humorously added: "Maybe I do. Would it be so terrible?”

Last year, however, seemingly weary of having her identity questioned by critics, the 35-year-old finally clarified the matter with a powerful, liberating admission.

During a conversation on the Netflix documentary What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates, she was asked why she had avoided addressing the controversial rumors for so long.

"The reason I didn’t answer the question was because I didn’t feel victimized by that lie," she explained to the billionaire businessman.

"But I considered, what about a kid being accused of that, who might think that a public figure like me would feel shame."

Even though she later confirmed that the speculation was baseless, she chose not to condemn the false claims, using her platform to support anyone for whom the story might resonate.

"There was this doctored image on the internet, and people were like, 'You know there’s this rumor that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?'," the artist continued.

"I’ve been in situations where correcting a rumor was not in the best interest of - I thought, the well-being of others."

Gaga further elaborated: "So in that case, I tried to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way. I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point."

Discussing public identity in general, she added: "People, I think, assume that someone like me who performs, that my performance is what’s not real. To me, that’s the most genuine part of me you’ll see.

"That is far more real than all the rumors that are designed to orbit me to gain more clicks."