Did Lady Gaga Rip Off Japanese Earthquake Victims?

Desi Jedeikin

Lady Gaga is no stranger to controversy, but there are some kinds of attention that even the queen of publicity stunts wouldn’t want. You're probably thinking 'What could possibly make this little monster NOT want her poker face photographed by the paparazzi'? I mean they say there's no such thing as bad publicity...right?

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Wrong! The star is basically being accused of ripping off the victims of The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan last March. Yeah…REALLY bad publicity. That’s an accusation that sounds way more big monster than little monster.

This all stems from the sale of earthquake relief wristbands that the star designed and promoted via Twitter shortly after the earthquake struck. The 'ALL proceeds' part is what's causing Gaga trouble.

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Here’s a looksie at the red and white wristbands adorned with ‘We Pray For Japan’ and two 'little monster' hands, which I have to say…seems kind of like a creepy choice.

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The class action lawsuit alleges that Gaga and other companies involved in the sale of the wristbands overcharged buyers on shipping costs and "artificially inflated reports of total donations." 

So says the Michigan legal network suing Gaga, 1800LAWFIRM...which I have to say doesn’t sound like a very legit company name. Lady Gaga's probably all like "Wait...WHAAAAAT"? We know the feeling Your Royal Weirdness.

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Lady Gaga or her reps have not commented on the lawsuit. It’s interesting to note though, that right now she’s actually in Japan to perform in a concert benefiting victims of the March earthquake. I’m pretty sure that the only thing Lady Gaga is guilty of is taking bad advice and maybe not having her peeps check things out thoroughly before she slapped her name onto the charity fiasco.

I’m also pretty sure she loves Japan, and boy does Japan love her!

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I mean let’s get real here, Gaga does tons of charity work! She raised money for the Haitian earthquake victims awhile back and she is a huge activist in the areas of AIDS research and gay rights. I definitely think her heart was in the right place on this one. She’s like Gaga Goprah.

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Also, does anyone seriously believe that Gaga was trying to make a few extra bucks here? She just topped the annual Forbes Magazine celebrity power list and earned 90 million dollars last year alone! Don't cry baby...no one believes you're a crook. Well, intentionally anyway.

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The suit seeks unspecified compensatory as well as punitive damages. So who are the victims this suit is fighting for? The people who survived the Japanese earthquake? Or the Lady Gaga fans? Everyone would've been better off if they had just donated the five bucks to Save The Children. Well, except for 1800LAWFIRM, who I'm pretty sure will be the big 'winner' here.

So what do you think of the all the hoopla? Do you think celebrities have a responsibility to their fans when it comes to endorsing a charity or a product? Let's discuss the latest Gaga controversy in the comments!

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