Lady Gaga calls out industry ‘ageism’ in powerful 2025 iHeartRadio Awards speech-OxBig News Network

Lady Gaga accepts the innovator award during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, on Monday, March 17, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
| Photo Credit: Chris Pizzello

Lady Gaga has called out ‘ageism’ in the music industry while accepting the Innovator Award at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

At the event that took place on March 17, the 38-year-old singer, during her speech, spoke about her career, her passion for innovation, and her love for the LGBTQ+ community. She went on to address how women in pop music are often considered “too old” by the time they reach their late thirties.

“I don’t totally know how to think about this because winning an award honoring my entire career at 38 years old is a hard thing to get my head around,” Gaga said.

“On the one hand, I feel like I’ve been doing this forever, and on the other hand, I know I’m just getting started. So even though the world might consider a woman in her late thirties to be old for a pop star, which is insane, I promise that I’m just getting warmed up,” she continued.

“Innovation isn’t about breaking rules; it’s about writing your own and convincing the world they were theirs all along. Like showing up to the Grammys in an egg or creating an anthem that everyone told us was too controversial until it became undeniable. If I have learned anything in the three decades I’ve been at this, it’s that the most powerful innovation is your authenticity,” Gaga further said.

Calling her grandmothers “fiercely brilliant Italian-American women” who created opportunities for themselves through strength and determination, the pop singer added, “Tonight I think of my grandmothers, fiercely brilliant Italian-American women who reinvented their destinies with nothing but strength, dreams, and determination.”

“They didn’t invent technology or art; they invented possibility, shaping the future with nothing more than their minds. And those women, my ancestors, are the greatest women that I’ve ever known,” concluded Gaga.

Gaga was also nominated in multiple categories at the ceremony. She earned nods for Best Collaboration and Best Music Video for her song Die with a Smile with Bruno Mars, which won a Grammy in February. She was also recognized in the Favorite On-Screen category for her Chromatica Ball concert film.