Lady Gaga put down the rumors that album sales of ARTPOP contributed to layoffs at her record label.

Chatting with fans on LittleMonsters.com, a social networking site made especially for Lady Gaga fans, Lady Gaga herself spoke candidly about recent unfavorable headlines. After the release of ARTPOP, an Examiner article (which has since been deleted) claimed that the sales numbers were not what Interscope had hoped for, which set off a ripple effect through the company that resulted in a $25 million dollar loss and tons of layoffs.

Lady Gaga responded to this rumor saying there was “no truth to many of your comments, including the 25 million dollars deficit.”

Lady Gaga also spoke about how money and fame drove some of her most personal relationships into the ground last year. After canceling the remainder of her Born This Way Ball tour in February, Gaga underwent hip surgery to repair an injury sustained on the road. She talks about waking up in the hospital room and not seeing a lot of the people who she thought she would:

“My heart breaks from the people I have trusted and loved who I’ve worked so closely with, who have used me, lied to me, worked me into the ground for the personal gain. When I woke up in the hospital after my surgery there were many people that were not there. My health did not matter. I did not matter unless I could perform. This is a very hard lesson.”

ARTPOP debuted at No.1, selling 258,000 copies in its first week.

Lady Gaga surprised fans on New Year’s Day last week when a studio version of her collaboration with Christina Aguilera on “Do What U Want” was made available for digital download. There’s no word on an official music video or when we will see it as of yet.

What are your thoughts about the treatment of female pop stars in the music industry?