Do What U Want (partially found unreleased Lady Gaga music video; 2013)
Popstar Lady Gaga has become known for, among other things, her elaborate music videos, some of which are still among the most-watched YouTube videos of all time.
When "Do What U Want" (featuring R&B singer R. Kelly) was released as the second single from her album Artpop, many people assumed that a music video was soon to follow. Interscope originally announced the video would be released through BitTorrent in December 2013 and behind the scenes photos from the video's shoot were released that month. Lady Gaga would tease the video on her Twitter page, stating those who had been shocked by the then-recent performance of the song on Saturday Night Live were "not ready" for the video.[1]
However, the video was not released in December. Lady Gaga later released a twelve-minute video for her single "G.U.Y." in the spring of 2014 with no mention of "Do What U Want".
Originally, Lady Gaga stated that the reason for the delay was because she had not been given enough time to prepare the video's concept.[2] However, gossip website TMZ would later state that the actual reason the music video was scrapped completely was due to claims that Terry Richardson (who directed the video) sexually harassed models he has worked with. Although Richardson denies the claims, the allegations were reportedly enough to cause Lady Gaga to change her mind about the video. Additionally, she was said to fear "blowback" from audiences against R. Kelly's previous child pornography charges.[3] Some who have seen the full-length video claim it contains some offensive moments, including R. Kelly stating he will impregnate Lady Gaga while she is unconscious.
Due to these factors, along with Gaga's decision to distance herself from the song following the Surviving R. Kelly television documentary, which saw the removal of the song from major streaming platforms and all subsequent issues of the ARTPOP album, the video is not likely to be released through authorized channels.
Availability
In June 2014, TMZ released a 30-second snippet of the scrapped video. The scene opens with R. Kelly as a doctor who is examining Lady Gaga. She starts to moan ecstatically, while Kelly remarks that "the medicine is kicking in". A party starts in the operating room, with nurses manipulating Gaga's unconscious body. This scene is intercut with another of Gaga dancing in a room decorated with newspaper headlines about her. A photographer (played by Terry Richardson) takes pictures of Lady Gaga as her antics become more graphic and sexually provocative. Additional footage was later featured in a report by TMZ, featuring scenes of Gaga lifting weights, the nurses eating shellfish off of her unconscious body, Gaga dressed in a plaid shirt and glasses similar to that of Richardson, and a brief shot of Gaga vomiting. Some of the reported controversial material, such as R. Kelly's "pregnant" line, is not present in the leak.
In 2021, Lady Gaga fan "Gaga Land" released a reconstruction of the video that runs around 2 minutes, featuring the 30 second leak from 2014, censored clips from TMZ, clips from a Gaga documentary & some low-quality footage which leaked at an unknown time.
Gallery
Footage
Videos
References
- ↑ Lady Gaga Gets Real About R. Kelly Video: "Y’all Aren’t Ready". Retrieved 25 Jun '14
- ↑ Where’s Lady Gaga’s ‘Do What U Want’ Video? She Explains The "Devastating" Delay. Retrieved 25 Jun '14
- ↑ Lady Gaga Music Video PULLED -- "Do What U Want" Controversy. Retrieved 25 Jun '14