Cynthia and Joseph Germanotta(Lady Gaga parents)
She may be pop music’s biggest star but 25-year-old Lady Gaga is still very much daddy’s little girl.
The New York Post reports Gaga, born Stefani Germanotta, splits the proceeds from every dollar she makes—whether it’s from her music or other ventures, which include bars, boutiques, books and more—50/50 with her father Joe Germanotta, under their LLCs “Team Love Child” and “Mermaid Music.”
“There’s really no justifiable sense to doing a 50/50 deal with anyone in your career, other than someone you’re partners in a band with,” says Josh Grier, an entertainment lawyer. “Certainly no artist entering a management deal does anything close to that—a commission is usually 15 to 20 percent.”
Gaga is known for being extremely close to her family (Joe, mom Cynthia and teen sister Natali), still spending holiday weekends and as much time as possible with them in her childhood home on New York’s Upper West Side. Her father’s personality can be seen through Gaga: Joe was a rock ’n’ roll fanatic who loved Led Zeppelin and Billy Joel and often told his daughter colorful tales of having sex with girls under the boardwalk in New Jersey before he went to see acts lile Bruce Springsteen. When Gaga’s cocaine habit was spiraling out of control, she says it was Joe who looked at her and said, “You’re f*cking up, kid” convincing her to clean up.
“As much as I want the world to be happy,” Gaga said earlier this year, “I just want my dad to be proud of me.”