Retail giant Target has said it was
'surprise and disappointed' that singer Lady Gaga walked away from an
exclusive deal over gay rights issues.
Target announced last month that it
would be selling a deluxe edition of Lady Gaga's second studio album
Born This Way starting in
May.
On
Tuesday, gay glossy The Advocate reported
that the deal was off.
In a
interview with Billboard magazine,
Lady Gaga, an avid supporter of gay rights, said that the decision
“hinged” on Target making “amends for the mistakes they've made
in the past.”
“Our
relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support
the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they've made supporting
those [anti-gay] groups,” she said.
“We
were very surprised and disappointed by the statements made by Lady
Gaga's organization related to her partnership with Target,” the
company said in a statement. “Target remains committed to the LGBT
community as demonstrated by our contributions to various LGBT
organizations, our recently established Policy Committee to review
our political giving and our respectful, inclusive workplace
environment.”
Target
had become the target of a boycott last year after it was revealed
that the Minnesota-based retail giant had given $150,000 to MN
Forward, an independent political fund supporting Tom Emmer, the
anti-gay Republican nominee who lost his bid to become Minnesota's
next governor.
Recently,
the
company announced it had created a committee to oversee political
donations and would report on its website corporate contributions of
more than $5,000. Some companies post contributions as low as
$100.