He helped discover and cultivate the megastar for almost seven years. Then Gaga dumped him. Here’s the untold story of how he rolled with it.

From behind, Troy Carter looks like a middle schooler. He has the wispy frame of a pretzel stick, wrapped in skinny jeans that bottom out at black Yves Saint Laurent high-tops. It is late November, exactly two weeks after he was fired by Lady Gaga, but by appearances he and his calendar show no signs of vulnerability.

He is a man without breaks: He spent the morning fueled on the fumes of a banana, meeting with execs at his new soda company and then with tech founders he’s investing with; after that it was off to a lunch meeting with CAA, and now he’s at the Capitol Records tower in Hollywood. It’s the schedule of anyone of his caliber, though it’s also–and he won’t admit this–the habit of a recently dumped man who’s probably afraid to have time alone with himself. Read more…