Brazil: foiled attack at Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro

What was once a night of musical celebration almost turned tragic. On Sunday, May 4, 2025, Brazilian authorities announced that they had foiled a planned bomb attack on Lady Gaga's concert, which drew a crowd of no less than 2.1 million to Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach on Saturday.

In a press release, Rio de Janeiro's Civil Police, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, declared that they had “prevented a bomb attack that was due to take place during Lady Gaga's show at Copacabana”. Two suspects were arrested: a man believed to be the leader of the group, arrested in the state of Rio Grande do Sul for illegal possession of a firearm, and a teenager held in Rio for alleged possession of child pornography.

The planned attack, dubbed “Fake Monster” by police, was aimed directly at children and teenagers, who are heavily represented in the New York star's audience. The group behind the attempt was spreading hate speech, promoting youth radicalization and self-harm on digital platforms. Police state, “Those involved recruited participants to promote attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails.”

“The police acted silently and without creating panic (...) We acted surgically so that the crime did not take place,” said Felipe Curi, head of Rio's civil police, in an official note.

The artist and her team only learned of the threat after the concert. Lady Gaga, for her part, didn't mention the foiled attack directly, but wrote on X: “Your heart shines so brightly, your culture is so vibrant and special, I hope you know how grateful I am to have shared this historic moment with you...”

The singer's fans, nicknamed the “Little Monsters”, flooded social networks with messages of relief.