Yana Morgana claims Gaga cribbed her collaborator Lina Morgana‘s aesthetic and musical style, after the latter committed suicide at 19. Says she, “Lady Gaga is holding Lina’s soul, and I want her soul to be free.”
Lady Gaga — then Stefani Germanotta — was introduced to Morgana in 2007, when producer Rob Fusari brought Germanotta onboard to write some music. The two collaborated on a dozen tracks, some of which made it onto YouTube. Then, in 2008. Lina jumped to her death. Not a month later, says her mother, “Gaga” was born — the very image of her late collaborator. Yana Morgana told the New York Post,
Lina had that style. Gaga had a different style. She changed dramatically…Lina had a hard life because we emigrated from Russia. People would make fun of her because she was different, her mom was a single mom…Every other word she says is from Lina. She talks about having a dark and tragic life, but she had everything she wanted in the world. She went to [the same] high school as Nicky Hilton, her parents were rich. But Lina did have a tough life, and she often talked about her tragic life.
Lina’s boyfriend agrees, telling the paper, “It was the same style, the same look, the same music, the same voice, the same jaw line — the way they expressed themselves…And I was like, ‘Is that Lina?’ It was so, so shocking. It was like looking at a ghost.”
While there are certain similarities to the aesthetic, it would be hard to make a definite claim of image theft — especially since the two women shared a producer, Fusari, who has long taken credit for Gaga’s image (and is in fact suing her for monies owed.) It seems plausible that he might have shaped both women. Then too, similarities in performance are natural…Gaga wrote the music. That said, Yana Morgana claims to not want anything but acknowledgment. “I’m not looking to file a lawsuit,” Yana tells the Post. “I just want them to acknowledge Lina as an artist and release her music.” After this, we won’t hold our breath.
