 |
| Lady Gaga, stauch LGBT supporter, is walking away from a deal with retail giant Target. |
Looks like Lady Gaga has landed in Target's bullseye.
The retail-giant slammed the multi-platinum pop star on Wednesday after reports emerged she had ended their professional partnership over Target's refusal to cease controversial political donations.
"We were very surprised and disappointed by the statements made by Lady Gaga's organization related to her partnership with Target," the Minneapolis-based company said. "Target remains committed to the LGBT community as demonstrated by our contributions to various LGBT organizations, our recently established Policy Committee to review our political giving and our respectful, inclusive workplace environment."
News that Gaga had terminated her relationship with the superstore was first reported in The Advocate on Tuesday, which cited a source close to the singer.
"She and Target didn't see eye to eye on Target's policy of political donations and how they affect the LGBT community," the source said.
A representative for the singer confirmed the news in a statement on Wednesday, revealing that the two sides "came to a mutual decision to end their overall exclusive partnership a few weeks ago."
Gaga and Target had been negotiating a deal that would have put an exclusive version of her upcoming CD "Born This Way" on sale in the big box stores in May. But after her fans voiced their reservations, Gaga – an outspoken activist for gay rights - reportedly reconsidered.
The LGBT community was very critical of Target's $150,000 donation to MN Forward, a political action committee that supported Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. A staunch opponent of same-sex marriage, Emmer failed to win the state's top job.
"Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they've made in the past … our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they've made supporting those [anti-gay] groups," Gaga told Billboard last month.
While the specifics surrounding Gaga's decision to walk away from the negotiations remain murky, E! Online reported that Target refused to promise it would never donate to anti-gay organizations or politicians again.
As of Wednesday evening, Target.com still featured the deluxe version of "Born This Way" for pre-order on its website. It included the standard album, three new songs and five remixes.
No comments:
Post a Comment