Lady Gaga concert bomb attack thwarted: police
A fireworks show after Lady Gaga's massive free concert at Copacabana Beach on May 03, 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
A plot was thwarted to detonate a bomb at Lady Gaga’s massive concert at Copacabana Beach this weekend, local authorities said Sunday.
Lady Gaga Copacabana concert
The backstory:
Lady Gaga gave a free concert on Copacabana Beach Saturday night, the second such show in as many years organized by Rio de Janeiro’s City Hall. Madonna headlined last year.
The concerts are part of a local effort to boost economic activity, and attract Brazilians from across the country and international visitors.
By the numbers:
Concert organizers said 2.5 million people attended the show, and a local report said some $106 million was projected to pour into the economy.
RELATED: Madonna’s Rio concert made history with largest standalone crowd
Big picture view:
Similar concerts are scheduled to take place every year in May at least until 2028.
Concert bomb plot
What we know:
Police in Brazil said on Sunday that two people have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to detonate explosives at the concert.
The two people were arrested before the show, and the concert went ahead without disruption.
Police said they believed homemade bombs were intended in the attack.
Dig deeper:
Felipe Cury, secretary of the Rio police, said during a press conference Sunday that authorities believed the suspects sought to target Brazil’s LGBTQ community.
For context:
One of Lady Gaga’s biggest hits, "Born This Way," has become something of an LGBTQ anthem after its 2011 release.
Police said the two suspects were part of a larger group that had been spreading LGBTQ+ hate speech and attempting to recruit young people to carry out attacks using Molotov cocktails and improvised explosives.
What we don't know:
Police did not elaborate on the exact roles of the two suspects in the bomb plot, or say how they came to target Lady Gaga’s free concert. And it wasn’t immediately clear where the suspects were arrested.
Additionally, the seriousness of the threat was also debated, since the concert played out.
What they're saying:
Police said they didn’t speak of the arrests until after the concert in an effort to "avoid panic" and "the distortion of information."
Meanwhile:
A spokesperson for Lady Gaga said the pop star and her team "learned about this alleged threat via media reports (Sunday) 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 added: "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."
What's next:
Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM Ball tour kicks off in the U.S. July 16 in Las Vegas, with several tour stops across the country over the summer before heading international this fall.
The Source: Information in this article was taken from a public press conference Sunday by the Rio police, as reported by The Associated Press. Background information about Lady Gaga’s concert was also taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Detroit.