Lady Gaga has become one of the most recognizable faces of the past two decades - but not everyone thought that she would be able to achieve the stardom she desired.
Outside of very specific circumstances, it often takes people who have dedicated their lives to their craft years to gain recognition for their abilities, and Lady Gaga was no different.
While the singer, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, became a global sensation in the late 2000s, she was an active musician for several years prior to her 2008 debut album, The Fame.
And now, she has seven hugely successful albums under her belt - as well as numerous awards - and an impressive number of movie roles to her name - from A Star is Born to House of Gucci.
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However, an internet artefact from the years before Gaga’s breakout has resurfaced on TikTok, recalling a time when a college-aged Stefani Germanotta was grinding to garner recognition for her talent and abilities.
In the TikTok, which was posted by @instxdk24ds, a screenshot of an supposed old Facebook group called 'Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous' is shown, accompanied by a photo of the soon-to-be icon from before her fame.
The TikTok juxtaposed this screenshot with a list of accolades Gaga has gone on to achieve throughout her highly successful career in both music and film.
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The TikTok wound up getting over 9000 likes and even drew the attention of Gaga herself, who gave some background to the Facebook group.
“Some people I went to college [with] made this way back when.” she explained in a comment.
“This is why you can’t give up when people doubt you or put you down—gotta keep going.”
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The Facebook group was promptly proven wrong, as mere years after her time in college, Gaga’s career would skyrocket, with the 'Poker Face' singer now being a 13-time Grammy winner.
And fans of Gaga’s shared their thoughts about the post on TikTok, complimenting and celebrating the tenured artist’s accolades.
“Success is the best revenge,” one commenter said, while another commenter pondered: “I would love to know what the creator(s) of this page is doing now.”
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The details regarding the origin of the Facebook group have been murky at best, with Snopes claiming that the existence of said-group was 'unproven'.
However, they suggested that it is possible that it did exist as journalist Lauren Bohn said that she encounter the group while a freshman at NYU.
The publication theorised that it has likely since been deleted, however, numerous parody accounts exist on the website with the same name, who've issued statements to say they aren't the original group.
However, if Gaga herself remembers it, then it's more than likely that it did, in fact, exist at one point.
Dylan Murray