Lady Gaga Says the “Love” Between Her and Bradley Cooper Is Exactly What Oscars 2019 Viewers Were Meant to See

It’s been a whirlwind week for Lady Gaga, who scooped up an Oscar on Feb. 24 for Best Original Song for “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, even getting to perform the song during the show to the packed Oscars house with costar Bradley Cooper.

The performance was widely praised on social media, especially because of the chemistry between Gaga and Bradley, which had viewers freaking out online. Now, Gaga is setting the record straight about their relationship.

Gaga appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to talk about her big Oscar win, and the conversation quickly turned from casual chit-chat about Gaga’s time at the Oscars to her very intimate “Shallow” performance with Cooper.

At one point, host Jimmy Kimmel noted that Gaga and Cooper’s chemistry was palpable during the performance, leading Gaga to shut down the romance rumors once and for all.

“Yes, people saw love, and guess what? That’s what we wanted you to see,” she told Jimmy, continuing, “[‘Shallow’] is a love song, A Star Is Born is a love story. It was so important to both of us that we were connected the entire time….When you’re singing love songs, that’s what you want people to feel.”

Gaga continued to tear down the idea that she and Cooper had a real-life romance. She quipped to Jimmy that “I’m an artist, and I guess [Bradley and I] did a good job…fooled ya!”

She did go on to praise Cooper for his involvement in making the Oscars performance go so well, noting that he helped organize it and that watching him sing live was an exciting thing to see.

“Bradley is a musician. My favorite thing about the whole experience — I was so excited for everyone to see him sing live,” Gaga told Kimmel. “In that moment when we started and he said, ‘Tell me something, girl,’ the audience started cheering and I was like, ‘Yes, Bradley! Keep going!'”