Biden and Lady Gaga to team up at Oscars

Reporting from Washington —  Vice President Joe Biden will team up with Lady Gaga during Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony for a special presentation aimed a combating sexual violence, White House officials said Thursday.

Biden, who was the main author of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act during his career in the Senate, will introduce Lady Gaga for a performance of her nominated song, “Til It Happens to You,” an administration official told The Times. The singer co-wrote the piece, which is about campus sexual assault, with songwriter Diane Warren for the documentary film “The Hunting Ground.”

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Biden has been one of the main advocates for the administration’s “It’s On Us” campaign, which is aimed at raising awareness about the problem of sexual violence on American campuses. The campaign asks students to take a pledge to intervene instead of being bystanders if a sexual assault is taking place, to recognize that sexual contact without consent is an assault and a crime, and to support survivors and make sexual assault unacceptable.

In the fall, Biden met with Warren and several other Hollywood activists to talk about the campaign. During the conversation, the two talked about the power of the song, the administration official said.

The video for Lady Gaga’s song included a link to the website for the “It’s On Us” campaign. When “Til it Happens to You” received an Oscar nomination for best original song, the vice president’s office saw an opportunity to highlight the cause.

After introducing Lady Gaga, Biden will ask viewers and members of the audience in the theater to visit ItsOnUs.org and take the pledge.

The vice president plans to attend the ceremony with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden.

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