Vice President Joe Biden will team up with Lady Gaga during Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony for a special presentation aimed at combating sexual violence, it was announced yesterday.
Biden, who was the main author of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act during his career in the Senate, will introduce Lady Gaga for a performance of her nominated song, “Til It Happens to You,” an administration official told the Los Angeles Times. The singer co-wrote the piece about campus sexual assault with songwriter Diane Warren for the documentary “The Hunting Ground.”
In the fall, Biden met with Warren and several other Hollywood activists to talk about the campaign, The Times reported. During the conversation, the two talked about the power of the song, the administration official told the newspaper. When “Til it Happens to You” received an Oscar nomination for best original song, the vice president’s office saw an opportunity to highlight the cause, according to The Times. After introducing Lady Gaga, Biden will ask viewers and members of the audience in the theater to visit ItsOnUs.org and take the pledge.
Biden has been one of the main advocates for the administration’s “It’s On Us” campaign, which is aimed at raising awareness about the problem of sexual violence on American campuses, The Times reported. The campaign asks students to take a pledge to intervene if a sexual assault is taking place, to recognize that sexual contact without consent is an assault, to support survivors and to make sexual assault unacceptable.
After introducing Lady Gaga, Biden will ask viewers and members of the audience in the theater to visit ItsOnUs.org and take the pledge.
The vice president plans to attend the Oscars with his wife, Jill Biden.
