Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lady Gaga’s been a vocal advocate of supporting those struggling during this historic time, including essential workers.
So when Gaga was recently asked what gave her hope the past year, she got personal in her response to People.
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“I got to be honest,” Gaga said, while admitting that she was about to cry: “It’s doctors, it’s nurses, it’s essential workers.”
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After cautioning that she hadn’t “spoken to this person about speaking about this publicly,” Gaga revealed that “a very important member of [her] family was very, very ill recently and in the hospital for almost two months.”
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“I was in the ICU by myself many times because you can’t go in with more than one person, if you can go in at all.”
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“I have never seen the heroic acts of bravery that I witnessed,” Gaga said, “watching these doctors and nurses and people that were cleaning at the hospitals.”
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“They put their heart and soul into their work, and they even cared for me ā I assure you, nobody could even recognize me behind all the gear that I had on,” she continued. “They just said, ‘How are you doing? How is your family? Is everything okay? Can we do anything?'”
In the interview, Gaga also talked about her involvement with the International WELL Building Institute’s WELL Health-Safety Seal, which, in People’s words, “verifies that buildings have taken the necessary steps to prioritize the health and safety of visitors during the coronavirus crisis.”
“It’s essential work to getting us back into buildings and indoor spaces,” she told the publication. “It is very important that as a result of what’s happened because of COVID-19, we start to rebuild the global community; we won’t be able to rebuild the global community until we start building it at the local level.”
“What I’m looking forward to the most is making sure that small business owners and people that work for small businesses can get back to work and live their lives,” Gaga continued, mentioning that her father owns a restaurant in New York City, Joanne Trattoria.
“I’ve seen the true heartache it’s caused him,” she said, “and watching the way that restaurant owners have suffered is something my family knows intimately.”
As someone who’s eaten at Joanne, I personally hope that the restaurant ends up okay. More importantly, it’s great to hear that Gaga’s family member seemingly got better ā and her message about appreciating essential workers is something we can all use.
