Lady Gaga has always been open about her struggles with substance abuse, but she says there's now one former hardship in her life which she's finally overcome: her eating disorder.
"I am better with food. I don't have an eating disorder anymore," the 27-year-old pop star tells the latest issue of Harper's Bazaar when asked about something she's "better at now" than when she was younger.
"I'm also better at not letting people take advantage of me," she continued. "Five years ago, when I spotted someone with a hidden agenda, I allowed them to stay around me…I speak up now. I realized that it's my own fault that people take advantage. I should be around people who cherish my talents, my health, my time…I'm an artist. I deserve better than to be loyal to people who only believe in me because I make money."
The lessons have been hard for Gaga to learn after a self-admitted tumultuous 2013. Her latest album Artpop was met with mixed reviews and she parted ways with her longtime manager Troy Carter in November in addition to recovering from her grueling hip injury, for which she underwent surgery.
"I became very depressed at the end of 2013," the Born This Way beauty admitted. "I was exhausted fighting people off. I couldn't even feel my own heartbeat. I was angry, cynical, and had this deep sadness like an anchor dragging everywhere I go."
Luckily, the singer was able to pull herself out of one of her darkest times.
"But January 1, I woke up, started crying again, and I looked in the mirror and said, 'I know you don't want to fight. I know you think you can't, but you've done this before. I know it hurts, but you won't survive this depression…You have to for you. You have to for your music. You have to for your fans and your family'" she shared. "But I always find it. I learned that my sadness never destroyed what was great about me. You just have to go back to that greatness, find that one little light that's left. I'm lucky I found one little glimmer stored away."
When asked if she's happy now, the performer replied, "today, yes," while also dishing details on a few private aspects of her personal life.
As for her guilty pleasures?
"Russian hookers and cheap gin," she confessed. "At least I'm honest."
Can't argue with that.
And the last time she laughed out loud?
"Today," the "Judas" singer revealed. "My Taylor [Kinney, Gaga's boyfriend] stole my SpongeBob SquarePants socks from Tokyo."
As for what she would tell her future self?
"I'd ask her to do a duet with me—that would be original," she said. "Then I would tell her that I'm so happy she didn't die young."
Gaga also opened up about her "home," which she confessed is a "controversial" topic considering she doesn't "exactly have one."
"I live all over the world," the "Gypsy" singer revealed. "I keep a small rental in New York, where I hang many of my hats when I come to see my parents and New York pals. It's like a tiny jewel box, covered in rose-gold mirrors, with an oversize pink couch, an expensive vase, a white Marilyn piano, and a boudoir. I do not keep a lot of clothes here—mostly punk wear. And the three most expensive items I've ever purchased, including an actual house: my sable, a strand of diamonds, and my Mikimoto pearls."
And while the singer has undoubtedly left a legacy on the music world, she believes she has a greater purpose on the planet.
"I always think to myself, How do I want to be remembered? I don't want to be remembered as anything but brave," she said. "The only good intention to make money is to help others. I want to be Oprah. I want to be Melinda Gates. If I ever sell products other than my talents, then it will be to give more to others."
And what does she want written on her gravestone to go along with her longstanding message of acceptance?
"She spread love with every invention."
Born this way, indeed.