The announcement of Oscar nominations has caused more controversy than usual this year, but one of the lesser paid attention to ones as a result of it not being race-related is Linda Perry calling out the injustice of Lady Gaga being nominated for the song “Til It Happens To You”–from that little seen documentary, The Hunting Ground.
Accusing Gaga of contributing all of one line to the song, Perry remarked that the true writer of the track, and therefore the person who should be nominated for the award, is Diane Warren–who has penned lyrics for everyone from Roy Orbison to Christina Aguilera. Because Perry is accustomed to the lack of credit songwriters typically get for their contribution to the music industry, she Twitter ranted, “Why did Gaga get credit? Maybe because Diane wanted to ensure her support in promoting the song. Gaga is a very smart business women she knew a song written by Diane Warren Would be up for an Oscar. And you know it’s hard getting music out there and heard. Especially a song from a documentary, so Diane knew If she gave Gaga writing credit it would ensure the support this song needed and deserved. And Gaga knows her power. I’m not putting anyone Or anything down. I’m stating the truth. I credit Diane for writing this song, it is her experience her pain her words. That’s it kids.”
Now that Warren herself has come forward in defense of Gaga by insisting, “The song is the result of a special collaboration between myself and Lady Gaga. As Lady Gaga and I have consistently said,” Perry has decided to backpedal on her comments, apologizing, “My sincere apologies. I made a mistake to comment. I wasn’t in the room when the #TIHTY was being written. More importantly, I wish the focus to remain on the great importance of the song and the message of the film.” And yet, Perry’s initial railings still ring true–why should Gaga get the nomination when Warren was clearly the one who conceived the entire song and relied solely on the singer for her vocal interpretation?
