8 Famous People Confess Their Horrible Bullying Stories

Bullying is one of the most pertinent issues in schools today. Thousands of children are bullied every day by their peers, whether physically, socially or verbally. These eight famous people confess their horrible bullying stories to let kids know that It Gets Better.

1. Lady Gaga

Stefani Germanotta, otherwise known as Lady Gaga, spoke about her upbringing on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Gaga said that although her family lived in an affluent neighborhood they worked hard for everything they had. The superstar also admitted that she wasn’t very popular at school saying, “I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn’t fit in, and I felt like a freak.” Gaga recalls one bullying horror story saying, “The boys picked me up and threw me in the trash can on the street, on the corner of my block while all the other girls from the school were leaving and could see me in the trash. Everybody was laughing and I was even laughing. I had that nervous giggle, I remember even one of the girls looking at me like, ‘Are you about to cry? You’re pathetic.’ That’s what it felt like, you’re pathetic.” Today, Gaga inspires her fans through her Born This Way Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on youth empowerment, self-confidence, anti-bullying, career development and mentoring.

2. Chris Colfer

The Glee star notes that although he wasn’t physically bullied, he remembers being socially and verbally assaulted throughout high school. Colfer said, “It definitely taught me to be quick on my feet with witty comebacks. I remember one time someone screamed ‘fag’ at me in the hallway, and I screamed back, ‘Yeah, but can you spell it?’ Everyone in the hallway laughed at the other kid; it was nice to reverse the abuse.” He states that he relates very closely to his character Kurt on the show, because he’s gone through many of the same situations. Colfer is an active supporter of the It Gets Better Campaign and The Trevor Project, he even dedicated his Golden Globe Award to bullied kids in the LGBT community in 2011. In 2013, Colfer filmed a PSA with Elmo about anti-bullying for Sesame Street in Communities.

3. Jessie J

The 26-year-old British singer remembers the cruelty she faced growing up in London. Jessie said, “It was totally malicious and ugly. Children threw stones at my head. It might be kinda funny now but it was horrific at the time. Kids at school nicknamed me Alien and Bugs Bunny because of my teeth.” The star claims she used her music to let other children know that suffering from bullying means “you are special.” Jessie said that her song, “Who’s Laughing Now” was her way of getting the conversation about bullying in schools started.

4. Taylor Swift

Would you believe that the “Shake It Off” singer was picked on in school? Swift remembers the cruelty saying, “Junior high was actually sort of hard because I got dumped by this group of popular girls. They didn’t think I was cool or pretty enough, so they stopped talking to me, the kids at school also thought it was weird that I liked country music. They’d make fun of me.” Swift says the bullying forced her to spend hours inside playing the guitar until her fingers bled, but her hard work has definitely paid off. In 2011, Swift’s music video for her anti-bullying song “Mean” dealt with homophobia in high schools and was nominated for an MTV VMA social activism award.

5. Demi Lovato

Lovato recalls the harsh words kids used to call her in school and she even attributes the horrific bullying to her developing an eating disorder. The pop star said, “I literally didn’t know why they were being so mean to me. And when I would ask them why, they would just say, ‘Well, you’re fat.’ I was bullied because I was fat. And then a few months later I developed an eating disorder, and that’s kind of what I’ve been dealing with ever since.” The singer has been very public about her battle with bulimia and has linked up with many organizations to speak out against bullying and raise awareness about eating disorders. In 2010, Lovato became the spokesperson for the anti-bullying organization, PACER. Then in October 2012, Lovato was named the ambassador of Mean Stinks, a campaign focused on eliminating bullying by girls.

6. Rihanna

Rihanna recalls growing up in Barbados and facing bullying from other children because of her complexion. The pop icon said, “I was a little confused as a kid because I grew up with my mom, and my mom is black. So I was cultured in a very ‘black’ way. But when I go to school, I’m getting called ‘white.’ They would look at me and would curse me out. I didn’t understand. I just knew I saw people of all different shades and I was light.” Today, Rihanna is one of the biggest names in the entertainment industry and she never lets the “haters” get her down.

7. Selena Gomez

The 21-year-old says that she wasn’t in the popular crowd. Gomez recalls, “I was never the popular kid at school. I had two friends, but I just sat at the back of the room and got on with my work…I was never confident in school and I was definitely made fun of for being in the entertainment industry.” Gomez says she hopes to serve as a role model for young people, to believe in themselves and their dreams.

8. Eminem

The controversial rapper remembers his cruel school days saying, “I got beat up in the bathroom, beat up in the hallways, shoved into lockers. You know, just for bein’ the new kid. I felt like I was being attacked, I was being singled out. And I felt like, is it because of the color of my skin? There was certainly like a rebellious, like, youthful rage in me.” Eminem notes that these days of bullying inspired many hit songs and helped him to become the Grammy Award winning artist he is today.