How the Founder of Lady Gaga’s Biggest Fan Site Ended Up in Prison

Back then, If you visited the website, you would think there was a team running it. If I posted something, I wouldn’t say “I,” I would say “we.” You know, I’m using somebody’s name for my platform. People are not following it for me; people follow it for Gaga.As someone who’s been at this for almost two decades, how has the culture of fan websites and fan accounts shifted over time?It’s changed so much. I would say up until 2016, fan sites updated people on the artist. So if you’re a Lady Gaga fan, you would go to gagadaily.com just to see if she has a new song, or what outfit she wore, maybe new interviews. Then stan culture became more focused on charts and comparing who’s better and who has, like, a better Pitchfork score.In your return post on X, you said, “it feels surreal that so many people who don’t know each other, whose only connection is something as silly as loving the same pop star, can form such a strong bond that lasts for so many years.” I think that’s a beautiful sentiment, and maybe at odds with the shape of contemporary pop fandom. At the same time, I feel like Gaga Daily doesn’t buy into that. You’re not fighting in the stan wars.I definitely try not to. I mean,...