Lady Gaga takes anti-bullying campaign to White House

Lady Gaga. AP PHOTO

WASHINGTON—Eccentric pop diva Lady Gaga was due at the White House on Tuesday to discuss her anti-bullying initiative, officials said.

Her visit follows a White House bullying conference earlier this year, called to mitigate the plight of nearly a third of US schoolchildren, or 13 million students, who are bullied each year, according to official figures.

Obama was not due to be at home when the flamboyant songstress visited White House officials, as he was flying to Kansas to give a speech on the economy.

But he did encounter an extravagantly dressed Lady Gaga during a fundraising event in California in September, and ABC News said she brought up bullying with the president during a question and answer session that was closed to the press.

Lady Gaga told fans in September that she would bring up the case of a 14-year-old New York boy Jamie Rodemeyer, who committed suicide after complaining in an online video that he had been bullied.