CULTURE

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper Almost Kissed During ‘Shallow’ at the Oscars and the Internet Loves It

A meme is born.


91st Annual Academy Awards - Show
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

If you tuned into the 91st Oscars, then you, too, might be still cooling down after Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper‘s performance of “Shallow.” When the co-stars and outspoken fans of each other gave a live rendition of the song at the center of their A Star Is Born remake, it was almost impossible to tell if they were doing it in character as Ally and Jackson or if their chemistry is just as electric in real-life. According to much of the internet, it looked to be the latter. Cooper and Gaga’s connection was so strong, at the end of their performance their mouths were a couple of breaths away from a kiss.

The whole thing was as intimate as Oscar performances go. Gaga and Cooper weren’t officially announced. Instead, they simply got up out of their seats and walked on stage together, holding hands, where Cooper took place at a standup microphone and Gaga went to a piano. Cooper later joined her there, where he put his arm around her and continuously inched towards her. Whether their physical energy was real or fake, it was definitely Oscar-worthy and, shortly afterwards, Gaga won the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Shallow.”

In her acceptance speech, she didn’t give another iteration of her “100 people in a room” quote, but she did share a similar sentiment. “Bradley, there is not a single person on the planet that could have sang this song with me but you. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you so much,” she said, before talking about how much went into her journey to this moment. “If you are at home and you’re sitting at your couch and watching all I have to say is that this is hard work. I’ve worked hard for a long time. It’s not about winning; what it’s about is not giving up. If you have a dream, fight for it… It’s about how many times you get rejected or you fall down or [get] beaten up; it’s about how many times you stand up and are brave and keep on going.”

In case you’re wondering how Cooper’s partner and the mother of his daughter Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper, Irina Shayk reacted, she — along with the rest of the Dolby theater — gave the pair a standing ovation when they returned to the room. But, of course, the internet has a lot more theories about what’s really happening with Cooper and Gaga, as you can see below.