Vice President Joe Biden will introduce Lady Gaga on stage Sunday at the 88th Academy Awards before the singer performs her Best Original Song nominee, “Til It Happens to You,” TheWrap has learned.
Gaga performed the song for the documentary “The Hunting Ground,” which explores a national epidemic of rape on campus. The song by Gaga and Diane Warren is nominated for Best Original Song.
The vice president has been a long-time advocate against sexual assault and domestic violence. He is the author of the Violence Against Women Act, and will use his appearance at the Oscars to call on everyone to visit the ItsOnUs website.
Biden is set to attend with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden. This isn’t the first time a sitting vice president attended the Oscars: In 1932, Vice President Charles Curtis was a guest at the 4th Academy Awards.
Lady Gaga is a rape victim herself, and has been standing by Kesha in her fight against Dr. Luke, whom she claims drugged and sexually assaulted her.
On Wednesday, the singer once again displayed her admiration for Kesha, this time posting a photo of the two holding hands and leaning on each other. The photo, posted on Gaga’s Twitter account, was simply captioned “Free Kesha.”
The 88th Academy Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, will be broadcast live at 5:3o p.m. PST on ABC.