Why won't Lady Gaga perform at the 2023 Oscars?

Los Angeles, California - Sorry, Little Monsters: Lady Gaga will not be performing at Sunday's 95th Academy Awards ceremony.

Lady Gaga performs onstage during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lady Gaga performs onstage during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.  © Rich Fury / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

Oscars executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss slashed Gaga fans' hopes when he confirmed Wednesday that the Oscar- and Grammy-winning entertainer, who is nominated this year for her Top Gun: Maverick power ballad Hold My Hand, will not take the stage to sing the song.

In a Zoom call with entertainment journalists Wednesday, Weiss explained that the artists who perform this year's Oscar-nominated original songs were invited to perform, but the Shallow singer couldn't make it work.

"We invited all five nominees. We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her camp. She is in the middle of shooting a movie right now," Weiss said.

King Charles to give Christmas speech from a hospital-linked chapel amid cancer battle
Royals King Charles to give Christmas speech from a hospital-linked chapel amid cancer battle

"Here we are honoring the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie. And after a bunch of back and forth it didn't feel like she can get a performance to the caliber that we're used to with her and that she is used to. So she is not going to perform on the show."

Will Lady Gaga attend the Oscars?

Lady Gaga arrives for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Lady Gaga arrives for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.  © ANGELA WEISS / AFP

It's unclear if Lady Gaga will still attend the show, which is being held Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Gaga has previously performed during the internationally televised ceremony three times.

In 2015, she sang a Sound of Music medley for the film's 50th anniversary and was joined onstage by the film's star, Julie Andrews. In 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden introduced her performance of Til It Happens to You, her emotional ballad from the sexual assault documentary The Hunting Ground, as she was flanked at the piano by sexual abuse survivors. In 2019, she performed an intimate duet with her A Star Is Born co-star Bradley Cooper – the same year the song earned Gaga her first Academy Award.

This year, the pop superstar shares her Hold My Hand nomination with musician BloodPop.

Squid Game enters into its second season amid controversy on violence among children
TV & Shows Squid Game enters into its second season amid controversy on violence among children

They face off in the original song field against Applause from Tell It Like a Woman, Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Naatu Naatu from RRR, and This Is a Life from Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Rihanna and other stars prepare to perform at the Oscars

Rihanna performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12, 2023.
Rihanna performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12, 2023.  © TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP

Lift Me Up singer Rihanna was the first to be announced as a performer for this year's ceremony.

Her announcement was followed by that of Sofia Carson, who, accompanied by songwriter Diane Warren, will perform Applause. That song marks Warren's 14th Oscar nomination. She was previously nominated alongside Gaga for Til It Happens to You and received an honorary award at the Academy's Governors Awards in November.

The Talking Heads' David Byrne, also an Oscar winner, will take the stage to sing This Is a Life with supporting actress nominee Stephanie Hsu and music trio Son Lux.

Naatu Naatu singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava will make their Oscars debut performing their song.

Rock superstar Lenny Kravitz is also set to perform during the In Memoriam segment.

The 95th Academy Awards, hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, will air live on ABC on Sunday at 8:00 PM Eastern.

Cover photo: Rich Fury / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

More on Celebrities: