Why Girls Need To Be Nicer To Each Other, Featuring Kelly Osbourne And Lady GaGa

Kelly Osbourne and Lady GaGa are in a modern-day cat fight. Things are currently getting real – over the internet. (Is that an oxymoron?) The fact is, the media loves a good girl fight. You might not think this is news, but I’m about to make it news, because we need to talk about how women treat each other. It sucks.

There’s some history involved with this one, so let me give you the breakdown. It all started in 2009: first, Kelly called GaGa a “butterface”. Then in 2011, she called her “disrespectful” for not hitting the red carpet at the Grammys. More recently, she poked fun at GaGa’s weight, hinting that she’d gained so much, she might be pregnant.

Kelly started getting death threats from GaGa’s fans (don’t mess with the little monsters), so Sharon Osbourne wrote GaGa’s manager a letter, hoping the singer could intervene and get her fans to dial it back. When they didn’t, Kelly called GaGa’s fans “the worst” and the gloves came off. Then GaGa and Sharon exchanged words (or open letters via Facebook, rather), but it didn’t really get them anywhere, except here, the point where I am writing an article about how women need to be nicer to each other.

Ladies! Can’t we all just get along? I don’t care how this feud started; it needs to stop, because it is not REALLY news, but there you are, on the front of Huffington Post, and here we are, talking about you. Here’s the biggest newsflash of all: if we aren’t nice to each other, nobody else will be.

Kelly, GaGa: you are both successful, beautiful women who should want nothing but the best for each other. I ask: why are you fighting in the first place? You are powerful women in the public eye with fans who look up to you. You may not have asked to be role models, but you are, and when faced with the choice to set a good example, you should choose the high road. And right now, you are both guilty of not doing that.

Kelly, GaGa, I need to speak with both of you, separately.

Kelly: Did you have to stir the pot? Over and over and over? I believe, from what I know, that you started this when you threw out the term ‘butterface’. Maybe you were just trying to be funny or maybe you didn’t mean it; we all say things we don’t mean. But after the first insult, why keep going? By constantly being on the attack, you made yourself unapproachable to any kind of reconciliation.

Stefani: Can I call you Stefani? I’m trying to be serious here, and “GaGa” doesn’t help my case. I do think you made some good points in your letter. I do. But I do think that you could have set an example for your fans by encouraging them not to use harsh words. Never underestimate the power of a positive tweet. I know you aren’t responsible for their words and actions, but it wouldn’t be a shock if you asked them to tone it down.

Tina Fey’s character, Ms. Norbury, summed it up best in Mean Girls when she said, “You have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and whores.” Kelly and GaGa may not be discussing promiscuity, but the point is, they’re not using nice words. When they call each other names, they open the gates for others to call all women names. And I have a problem with that.

Featured image via ShutterStock