The biggest event in Lady Gaga’s career was nearly derailed this weekend, according to a Sunday announcement from Rio de Janeiro’s state police and Brazil’s Justice Ministry. According to the agencies, the Mayhem artist was the focus of a bomb plot from a shadowy online organization set on disrupting Gaga’s Saturday concert at Copacabana Beach, which reportedly drew a crowd of millions.
Police say that two people were arrested in the alleged plot: An adult male, who was charged with illegal weapons possession in Rio Grande do Sul; and a juvenile, who was arrested in Rio on allegations of child pornography. Officials have yet to name either suspect, nor have they provided additional details on the specific circumstances of the detentions.
The adult was the alleged leader of an online group “that promoted hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community,” the AP reports. It also “attempts to recruit other teenagers while encouraging acts of violence,” according to ABC News.
“The plan was treated as a ‘collective challenge’ with the aim of gaining notoriety on social media,” police said Sunday. “Those involved were recruiting participants, including teenagers, to carry out integrated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails.”
The attacks were planned for Lady Gaga’s free concert Saturday, which attracted a crowd of over 2.5 million people. According to Variety, that means Gaga has set a new attendance record for a concert held by a female artist, breaking Madonna’s 2024 record of 1.6 million during her Celebration tour, which was also set at Copacabana Beach.
The event, which was funded by the city of Rio, was also seen as an opportunity to boost the region’s economy. According to Rio’s City Hall, the concert was expected to generate around $106 million in revenue for area businesses.
In advance of the concert, the Brazilian Justice Ministry, Federal Police, and digital intelligence services launched a joint effort called Operation Fake Monsters in an effort to root out any potential threats to the event. As a result of information gleaned in that operation, the homes of 15 suspects were raided across multiple Brazilian states. According to police, law enforcement confiscated electronic devices and cell phones during the raids.
It’s unclear if any explosives were discovered in any of the searches, which took place on Saturday morning but were kept under wraps until after the show, to avoid “panic or distortion of information among the population,” police say.
In a statement sent to the Hollywood Reporter, a spokesperson for Lady Gaga said “We learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning.”
“Prior to and during the show, there were no known safety concerns, nor any communication from the police or authorities to Lady Gaga regarding any potential risks,” the statement continued. “Her team worked closely with law enforcement throughout the planning and execution of the concert and all parties were confident in the safety measures in place.”
The arrests are an eerie reminder of a similar attack allegedly planned for a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year. In that case, the shows were canceled, with Swift later saying that she would not speak publicly about the alleged plot, as her words “might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows.”
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