Lady Gaga: 'Malala Yousafzai Is More Deserving Of Glamour Magazine Cover'

Lady GaGa hailed teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai at the Glamour Women of the Year event in New York on Monday (11Nov13), insisting the Pakistani youth was more deserving of the magazine's December (13) cover than herself.

The Paparazzi hitmaker graces the front of Glamour's annual special issue and while she is grateful for the honour, she felt an image of Yousafzai would have been a better choice.

Accepting an award at the Carnegie Hall gala, Gaga admitted the spotlight belonged to fellow honouree Yousafzai, who hit the headlines last year (12) when she was shot in the head by Pakistani Taliban operatives who disagreed with her outspoken support of education for girls in her homeland.

She told the audience, "Who really belongs on the cover is not me. If I could forfeit my Glamour cover, I would give it to Malala. You're so inspiring, so young and so brilliant."

And Gaga then took aim at the image of her Glamour magazine editors chose to use on the cover, adding, "Malala used her voice, so I'm going to use mine... The picture, which I'm very grateful for and very happy to be on this cover, I felt it was too beautiful. I felt my skin looked too perfect, and my hair looked too soft. This is not usually how I dress or how I carry myself...

"I believe my true mission is to inspire young people to fight back against forces that make them feel like they're not beautiful or important. I do not look like this when I wake up in the morning."

Others feted among Glamour's Women of the Year included Kerry Washington, models Christy Turlington and Liya Kebede, Microsoft founder Bill Gates' philanthropist wife Melinda, and Barbra Streisand, who was presented with the publication's Lifetime Achievement award.