In an uncharacteristically repentant move, Piers Morgan has admitted he regrets casting doubt over Lady Gaga’s post-traumatic stress disorder.
Piers and Gaga were involved in a Twitter exchange back in 2016, after she revealed her battle with PTSD and he disputed her condition.
“No, soldiers returning from battlefields [have PTSD],” he tweeted, in response to a news story about Gaga’s PTSD. “Enough of this vain-glorious nonsense.”
Fans of the singer then pointed out her PTSD stemmed from a sexual assault, which he also called into question, stating: “No. Lady Gaga & Madonna have both made ALLEGATIONS of rape many years after the event. No police complaint, no charges, no court case.”
Reflecting on their exchange almost two years on, Piers has admitted that it’s the one tweet that “plays on his mind”, in an interview with Radio Times.
He said: “I remember Lady Gaga saying she had PTSD and stuff and I launched into her and sort of inferred that no one outside the military should really be claiming to get PTSD.
“I’ve got a lot of military in my family and PTSD is obviously a real problem if you come off a battlefield but I do accept that you can have it in other forms.”
Piers has previously been dismissive of revelations from the likes of Denise Welch and Will Young regarding their mental health, admitting that it’s a subject he’s been “perhaps a little insensitive” about, adding: “I would accept that.”
Back in 2016, Gaga and Piers’ discussion ended with an offer from him to interview her about the subject, though this is yet to take place.
Gaga spoke about her decision to go public with her post-traumatic stress disorder in her recent Vogue interview, saying: “For me, with my mental health issues, half of the battle in the beginning was, I felt like I was lying to the world because I was feeling so much pain but nobody knew.
“So that’s why I came out and said that I have PTSD, because I don’t want to hide—any more than I already have to.”
In the same interview, she called for more sensitivity when it comes to the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia saying: “People need to be more compassionate.”