The Ten Greatest False Rumors in Pop History

RUMOR: Emerging on the scene in 2008 Lady Gaga brought with her a look, name and sound of which pop had not previously seen, at least in the wake of the boy band craze of the early ’00s. With hit singles “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” and a penchant for making appearances in over-the-top outfits, the gossipmongers jumped straight for the “H” word: hermaphrodite. YouTube was flooded with videos taken at different angles, claiming that if you squint you could maybe, sort of see the outline of a penis underneath her newest wacky outfit. Fueling the fire came alleged quotes from Gaga herself. “It’s not something that I’m ashamed of, just isn’t something that I go around telling everyone. Yes. I have both male and female genitalia, but I consider myself a female. It’s just a little bit of a penis and really doesn’t interfere much with my life. The reason I haven’t talked about it is that it’s not a big deal to me. Like come on.”

DEBUNKED? To be determined. After playing up the public’s discussion that she is both open to and possibly possesses all forms of genitalia, Gaga furthered her eclectic persona by adopting a male alter ego named Jo Calderone during the creation of her latest album Born This Way. Gaga made an appearance as Calderone during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards—and remained “in costume” for the duration of the night—later revealing she was wearing a prosthetic penis. If you can’t beat ‘em, join em.

DENY, DENY, DENY: ”My beautiful vagina is very offended. I’m not offended; my vagina is offended,” Gaga told the Nova breakfast radio team in Brisbane, Australia in September 2009.