Lady Gaga Says 'Fooled Ya' to Rumors of an Affair With Bradley Cooper

Oscar winner Lady Gaga has a message for those on social media who insist that her steamy performance of "Shallow" with Bradley Cooper at the Academy Awards on Sunday is proof that the two are having a torrid affair.

"People saw love, and guess what? That's what we wanted you to see. This is a love song. The movie, A Star Is Born, it's a love story," Gaga said during an appearance Wednesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The pop diva showed up for her appearance on Kimmel's show carrying a handbag from which she cheekily pulled out the Oscar she won for writing "Shallow."

After chatting about Gaga's big night, Kimmel broached the rumors around Gaga and her director-costar Bradley Cooper that have proliferated, especially since her recent split from former fiance Christian Carino.

"That performance that you and Bradley gave. It was one of the great performances in the history of the Oscars. It was like, What's going on between these two?" Kimmel said. " It caused a controversy. You had such a connection with Bradley, and I guess this is a compliment, people started saying, they must be dating, they must be in love."

Gaga responded with a hard eye roll.

"First of all, social media, quite frankly, is the toilet of the internet," Gaga said, referring in part to social media threads insisting that their performance proved that they were having sex and in love. "What it has done to pop culture is abysmal."

"We worked so hard. We worked all week on that performance," Gaga said, explaining that Cooper also directed the Oscars performance.

"Bradley, who -- you know, I, like, never relinquish control about a live stage performance, I've done about a million of them -- but, you know, he directed this film and he directed, obviously, the musical moments in the film, and he directed, obviously, 'Shallow,' the moment in the film, so I knew that he had the vision of how it should go," Gaga said of Cooper blocking the performance.

"He laid it all out and everything that you saw -- the way that it was shot, the way that they pushed the piano out, you saw them put the piano together and us walk up onstage, no intro -- all of that was all him," Gaga said.

Gaga, who is an Emmy and a Tony award away from an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) continued to explain the nature of performance.

"It was just so important to both of us that we were connected the entire time," she said of performing with Cooper. "I've had my arms wrapped around Tony Bennett for three years touring the world. When you're singing love songs, that's what you want people to feel. I'm an artist and I guess I did a good job. Fooled ya!"

Watch Gaga and Kimmel below.