Overview
- In a Rolling Stone cover interview published Nov. 13, 2025, Lady Gaga said the early reaction to Joker: Folie à Deux was so extreme she “started laughing” because it felt “unhinged.”
- She added that the sustained negativity eventually became painful because she had put a lot of herself into the role and the project.
- Gaga said she redirected those emotions into her 2024 single “Disease,” explaining that the video drew directly from the backlash.
- The 2024 sequel was widely panned and underperformed financially, earning about $206–207 million worldwide on a reported $200 million budget, with a D CinemaScore and a low audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
- In the film she played Lee Quinzel, a Harley Quinn variant opposite Joaquin Phoenix, as the musical turn and courtroom/asylum framing were cited as factors in the divisive reception.