Lady Gaga’s team have responded to Brazilian police saying that they thwarted an alleged bomb attack on her huge Copacabana Beach show in Rio De Janeiro.
- READ MORE: Lady Gaga – ‘Mayhem’ review: queen of pop bombast dials everything up to eleven
The singer played the biggest show of her career, dubbed ‘Mayhem On The Beach’, at the venue on Saturday night (May 3). A crowd of over two million people gathered on the beach near the Belmond Copacabana Palace Hotel for her first Brazilian show since 2012.
On Sunday (May 4) the Civil Police of Rio De Janeiro State, in co-ordination with the Justice Ministry, said that they thwarted an attempted bomb attack on the show, and had arrested two people after the suspects had allegedly “recruited individuals, including minors, to carry out co-ordinated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails” (via Reuters).
One suspect was arrested in the state of Rio Grande Do Sul for illegal possession of a firearm, while more than a dozen search and seizure warrants have been carried out across the states of Rio De Janeiro, Mato Grosso, Rio Grande Do Sul and São Paulo.
The police operation, dubbed Operation Fake Monster, was based on a tip from Rio De Janeiro’s state police intelligence, which had identified an online group that was encouraging violent behaviour among teenagers with the use of coded language and extremist symbolism. The Justice Ministry said the recruiters identified themselves as ‘Little Monsters’, the term for Gaga’s fanbase.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation
Now, Lady Gaga’s team has responded to the police statement, saying they “learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning” in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
“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,” they continue. “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.”
Gaga had initially posted a response to the show on Instagram, although she did not explicitly reference the foiled plot. “Nothing could prepare me for the feeling I had during last night’s show – the absolute pride and joy I felt singing for the people of Brazil,” she wrote. “The sight of the crowd during my opening songs took my breath away. Your heart shines so bright, your culture is so vibrant and special, I hope you know how grateful I am to have shared this historical moment with you.”
The ‘Abracadabra‘ singer performed in front of a record-breaking crowd on a custom stage built to bring her creative vision to life, with her career-spanning set estimated to have bought in $100m (£75m) to the local economy, per BBC News.
Last year, Madonna took over the same venue in Brazil and performed a free show which marked the largest of her career to 1.6million people, and Gaga has now broken Madonna’s record for biggest standalone crowd in music history with an estimated 2.5m attendees.
Gaga released her new album ‘Mayhem’ in March and in a four-star review, NME wrote: “There’s a nonchalant confidence in the way Gaga sticks to her maximalist vision without pandering to contemporary pop trends. Most ‘Mayhem’ tracks run close to or over four minutes, making them mini-epics in the TikTok era.
“Ultimately, ‘Mayhem’ feels like a great Gaga album because it’s just so much fun. At times, it’s a bit like reconnecting with an old friend who makes sense even when they seem to be chatting nonsense. Seventeen years after she broke through with ‘Just Dance’, Lady Gaga remains pop’s foremost agent of impeccably crafted chaos.”
Meanwhile, news of Lady Gaga’s upcoming US tour was first shared last month, and included dates across the UK and Europe, as well as North America. This was later followed by details of an Australian tour.
Dubbed ‘The MAYHEM Ball’, the latest dates follow the singer sharing her new album ‘Mayhem’, and gearing up to play her first live shows in Singapore in over a decade, her first Mexico shows in 13 years and a monumental free show to over a million fans at Copacabana Beach in Rio.
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