Lady Gaga addresses charity controversy

Lady Gaga has spoken out in defense of her Born This Way Foundation after it emerged the charity's running costs far outweigh the money handed to good causes.

Tax records which emerged this week (beg10Mar14) reveal most of the non-profit charity's $2.7 million revenue from 2012 was spent on lawyers, consultants, travel expenses and publicity.

Reports suggest the organization, set up to stamp out bullying and empower youngsters, only dished out one $5,000 grant in the same period.

Gaga has now spoken out to defend her organization, insisting very few grants are allocated because most of the charity's good work is done in-house.

In a post on her Littlemonsters.com website, she writes, "My mom and I are so deeply passionate about the Born This Way Foundation. Its work, its message... Suicide prevention, compassion, inspiring bravery. This is our mission. We do not raise money and allocate the funds to other charities for them to do the work. We do the work... My mom is on the ground with the kids, so am I, the whole Born Brave Team is."

Gaga's mother Cynthia Germanotta, who runs the charity, adds in a blog written for Huffingtonpost.com, "We are an organization that conducts our charitable activity directly, and we fund our own work. We are not a grant-maker that funds the work of other charities, and were never intended to be... Lady Gaga founded Born This Way Foundation to foster a more accepting society for our young people. She covered all of the start-up costs for the organization with her own money and uses her celebrity to constantly advocate on behalf of tolerance, individualism and kindness."