But Gaga herself recently opened up to MTV about why she agreed to do it.
"First of all, my sister's a huge fan, and she's 17 years old. So when I called her and said Gossip Girl wants to put my new album on the show and have me perform, she was like 'Oh my God, you have to do it,'" she said.
"And I'd seen it. It's a great show."
Of course, Lady Gaga had no interest in a stereotypically awkward musical guest cameo. She wanted it done in typical Lady Gaga fashion.
"I hate most TV show performances, because they kind of come in out of nowhere, and everyone's, like, really into the story line, and then all of a sudden somebody breaks into song," she said. "It has nothing to do with the story."
So rather than showing up on the set for the day, Gaga met with writers and producers to ensure she was doing a performance she felt good about.
"I really sat down with the Gossip Girl writers," she said.
"I was like, 'Look, the reason I want to do this is because I'm trying to say something that is not mainstream. So, if I can say it on your show, that would be, like, a real coup d'état for me as a performance artist.'"
The result sounds like an elaborate music video.
"I am the narrator behind what is going on with the characters and make the song part of the moment," she said of her "crazy performance-art piece."
"We used these ladders. Ladders are kind of a monster symbol about bad luck. And I have this 35-foot-long dress on and these X's, very gothic-inspired."
"It was great. They let me do whatever the hell I wanted. It was amazing."
