Recommendations of the editorial team
On May 3, 2025, Lady Gaga in Rio de Janeiro gave a free concert on Copacabana beach – and broke a record with around 2.1 million visitors: inside. As the Brazilian police announced on May 4, two people were arrested in advance with a suspected explosive attack on the show.
Radicalization through social media
According to “Spiegel”, one of the suspects is said to be the leader of a group that spreads hatred via social networks and tries to radicalize young people. The second should be a young person. The competent authority said: “The plan was presented as a collective challenge with the aim of becoming known on social networks.” Above all, children, young people and the LGBTQ+community are said to have been the goal of the planned attack. The use of explosives and molotov cocktails, but also a targeted bomb attack, may be planned.
In the meantime, there is no more precise information about the alleged assassination attempt. It is also unknown what role the two arrested people should play in detail. However, the group said on the Internet as “Little Monsters”-the nickname of the Gaga fans. This allegedly wanted to reach young people and lure them into “networks with violent and self -destructive content”, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Justice.
Despite the recognized risk, the event was not canceled
In the course of the arrests, there were also a number of raids in the apartments of 15 suspects in several Brazilian states. Telefons and other electronic devices were confiscated. The police did not mention whether self -made bombs and / or weapons were actually found.
Although the arrests took place only a few hours before the start of the event, the concert could ultimately take place without interruptions. According to “Billboard”, this raised this with some questions regarding the severity of the threat. In other cases, similar threats already led to the cancellation of gigs, such as in 2024 at the shows by Taylor Swift in Vienna. Before the major event, however, the police reported nothing about the alleged attack in order to avoid “panic” and “dismissal of information”.
Lady Gaga itself was not informed
A spokesman for the singer also commented on the subject. Gaga and her team allegedly “found out about this alleged threat through media reports”. “There were no known security concerns before and during the show, nor did the police or the authorities have been informed of Lady Gaga with regard to possible risks. Her team worked closely with the law enforcement authorities throughout the planning and implementation of the concert and all parties were convinced of the security measures,” said the speaker.
A total of around 5,200 military and police officers were deployed at the event. Monitoring through drones and techniques of facial recognition are also said to have been used.
Lady Gaga thanked her fans for the concert in a post on May 4, but did not mention the reports on the presumably planned attack.
Among other things, she wrote: “Nothing could prepare me for the feeling that I had during the show last night – the absolute pride and the joy I felt when I sang for the people in Brazil. The sight of the crowd during my opening songs stolen my breath.”