Lady Gaga reduced most of Hollywood (and the Oscars audience) to tears on Sunday with her emotional performance of "Til It Happens To You."
The singer finished off her powerful Academy Awards performance by bringing out 50 survivors of sexual assault, who had messages written on their arms like "Survivor," "You Are Not Alone" and "We Believe You."
On Tuesday, the pop star shared a photo on Instagram thanking the brave men and women that stood beside her and spoke about the performance that nearly wrecked her.
"The first day of rehearsal with all the survivors I could barely get myself together," Gaga said. "My body was wrecked with inflammation and pain, crying and shaking the whole walk to the stage."
Gaga said the she couldn't sleep the night before, "knowing I would finally face that I belonged in that group." Gaga had said that she was raped as a teenager during a December 2015 "TimesTalks" session. Her personal experience with sexual assault made performing the song in front of fellow survivors even more challenging.
"I could barely get through the song, couldn't hit any of the high notes. Hair wet, sloppy tee shirt jeans uggs, tissues," the singer wrote on Instagram. "They all hugged me and told me that it was okay because it was more real this way, that they understood that they were in pain too. They told me they were there for me to support me because they believed this message needed to be heard."
To learn more about the 50 sexual assault survivors on stage with Lady Gaga at the Oscars, head here.
Watch the video below to see the singer's emotional Oscars performance:
Need help? In the U.S., visit the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline operated by RAINN. For more resources, visit the National Sexual Violence Resource Center's website.
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