Lady Gaga has said she does not fear a wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl half-time show on Sunday, when she may choose to take a political stand against President Donald Trump.
The 51st Super Bowl will take place in Houston, Texas, this weekend for the first time since the 2004 edition when Janet Jackson’s “nipplegate” moment overshadowed events on the field.
The New England Patriots won that day and the Boston-based franchise are one of the teams playing again on Sunday, though Gaga is not concerned about the possibility of shocking the world in the same manner as Janet did.
She said: “Are you going to blame that on the Patriots? Well, everything’s going to be nice and tight for the game so I wouldn’t worry about that. Unfortunately … some of you might have been excited about that.”
However, the 30-year-old may choose her time in the spotlight to highlight her personal feelings about the new regime running the country.
Gaga was seen protesting outside Trump Tower when Mr Trump won the election in November, holding a “love trumps hate” sign.
She said any statements she made at the Super Bowl, where over 100 million are expected to be watching on TV, would be consistent with messages she has tried to convey in the past.
“I don’t know if I will succeed in unifying America, you’ll have to ask America when it’s over,” she said. “The only statements that I’ll be making during the half-time show are the ones that I’ve been consistently making throughout my career.
“I believe in a passion for inclusion, in the spirit of equality and the spirit of this country as one of love and compassion and kindness. My performance will have those thoughts.
“I think that music is one of the most powerful things the world has to offer, no matter what race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender that you are – it has the power to unite us.
“This performance is for everyone. I want more than anything to create a moment that everyone watching will never forget, not for me but for everyone else.
“That’s what I remember about great Super Bowl performances of the past – when you really get lost in the moment for your family.”
At last year’s Super Bowl in San Francisco, Beyonce, who joined headline act Coldplay during their performance, prompted discussion with an outfit that some considered to be inspired by the Black Panthers movement at a time when there were mass protests across America over police killings of young black men.
In terms of her own performance, Gaga gave little away other than confirming she would not be revisiting one of her more unusual looks.
“I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do,” she said. “I will tell you there will be no meat dress there so don’t wait for that. Get excited to see something that you haven’t seen before, we’ve put everything that we could into this show.”
