Watch: Lady Gaga Never Felt 'Victimized' by Rumors She Was a Man

While some people might take offense at false stories suggesting they are secretly another gender, Lady Gaga rose above rumors that she was a man by refusing to engage with them. Page Six reported that Mother Monster explained why on Bill Gates' new Netflix talk show "What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates."

The false narrative resulted from what was, back then, the equivalent of a deep fake: a photo manipulated to make Gaga appear to be a man.

"So, when I was in my early twenties there was a rumor that I was a man," Gaga recounted to Gates. "And I went all over the world – I mean, I traveled for tours, for promoting my records, and almost every interview I sat in... they were like, 'You know, like, there's this rumor that you're a man. Like, what do you have to say about that?'"

The long and short answer: nothing.

"The reason I didn't answer the question was because I didn't feel like a victim with that lie," the "Bad Romance" singer told Gates. "But I thought about, like, 'What about a kid that's being accused of that, that would think that a public figure like me would feel shame.'"

"I guess what I'm saying is," Gaga continued, "I've been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of... the well-being of other people."

Gaga explained that she thought the best way to approach the fake story was "to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way. I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point."

Page Six recalled an instance in which the "Telephone" singer was posed the question by Anderson Cooper in 2011. Her memorable response to the suggestion that she had a male member was spot on: "Maybe I do. Would it be so terrible?" the "Poker Face" singer asked.

Pressing the point, Gaga said, "Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis?"

Added Gaga at the time: "My fans don't care and neither do I."

To Gates, Gaga made it clear that what fans see on stage "is so much more real than all of the rumors that are designed to orbit me to gain more clicks."

Watch a clip of Gaga discussing the rumor by following this link.