Lady Gaga has canceled her already sold
out Indonesian concert.
The 26-year-old Lady Gaga canceled her
June 3 Born This Way stop in Jakarta amid security concerns,
The
Wall Street Journal reported.
The news ends a dramatic two-week
standoff in which some Islamic extremists threatened violence and
police refused to authorize the concert. The potential for violence
and Lady Gaga's message were cited as reasons by police officials for
refusing to authorize permits.
Some believed the impasse would end
with Lady Gaga agreeing to tone down her performance and the police,
who provide security and crowd control for large events, issuing the
necessary permits.
“With threats if the concert goes
ahead, Lady Gaga's side is calling off the concert,” Minola
Sebayang, a lawyer representing Lady Gaga's concert promoter Big
Daddy, told the AP. “This is not only about Lady Gaga's security,
but extends to those who will be watching her.”
One of the groups protesting against
Lady Gaga performing in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation,
the Islamic Defenders Front, cheered news that she would not be
stopping in Jakarta.
“This is a victory for Indonesian
Muslims,” Salim Alatas is quoted saying. “Thanks to God for
protecting us from a kind of devil.”
Last year, Lady
Gaga called on Malaysians to protest censorship of her gay anthem
Born This Way after
radio stations had garbled her singing, “No matter gay, straight or
bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track, baby.”
The radio stations said the track's lyrics could be “considered
offensive when viewed against Malaysia's social and religious
observances.”
In
2010, rocker
Adam Lambert agreed to alter a performance of his Glam Nation Tour
at the Putra Indoor Stadium in Bukit Jalil, near Kuala Lumpur, after
members of the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) demanded its
cancellation, saying the performance promotes “the gay
lifestyle.”