Is this the end of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s artistic affair?
Gaga appeared to wish her on-screen lover Cooper a wistful adieu in an emotional Instagram post.
“Nothing could be more special than sharing this moment at the Oscars with a true friend and artistic genius,” wrote the star of “A Star Is Born,” the fourth incarnate of the sad tale, this time written and directed by Cooper.
Gaga shared a PG pic of the duo’s steamy duet at the 2019 Academy Awards that left some audience members with the tingles. While performing their film’s Best Song winner, “Shallow,” Cooper writhed and heaved as he interlaced his arms around Gaga, who moaned with him on the piano.
It was a breathy, sensual public display of horny teenage lustfulness — and, possibly, the climax of their intimate relationship.
These star-crossed spirits — Gaga, the pop iconoclast known for her power ballads and out-of-this-world creativity, and Cooper, the serious “artist” formerly known as the star of D-bag comedies like “The Hangover” and “Wedding Crashers” — were brought together with the goal of remaking a classic Hollywood tragi-romance.
And platonic or not, the unlikely coupling became more than a mere friendship, with Gaga and Cooper constantly singing each other’s praises on the press tour, touching closely, and even crying over the other’s talent.
Alas, like Romeo and Juliet and Maria and Tony before them, they come from two different worlds. And outside forces are trying to tear them apart.
A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images
Gaga has famously said (again and again) that Cooper was the only one “out of 100” to believe in her, but if social media warriors have anything to do with it, it might end up the other way around. His attempted transformation from actor to artiste has polarized pundits and spurred many Oscar watchers to actively root against him. His embrace of Gaga onstage, directly in front of his partner, Irina Shayk, was seen as suspect to some, and laughable to others, including ex-wife Jennifer Esposito.
Gaga, who ended her engagement with Christian Carino during the press tour, will most likely be Cooper-less going forward, now that awards season has ended. Their project is over; they run in different circles; the sun has set. There will be no more reasons to publicly pronounce their love for one another.
This could be, in essence, the ultimate breakup Insta post.
Their love, however, will live eternally on film — and on Gaga. She got a tattoo of a rose that reads “La Vie en Rose” on her spine, to commemorate the song she performed the first time Cooper heard her sing — shortly before he “fell in love with her.”
