Lady Gaga has added her voice to a growing roster of stars speaking out against ICE as tensions over immigration enforcement escalate across the U.S.
While performing one of four The Mayhem Ball shows in Tokyo on Thursday, the Oscar-winning singer paused her set to deliver a heartfelt message to the crowd.
‘I want to take a second to talk about something that’s extremely important to me, something important to people all over the world and especially in America right now,’ Gaga told the audience in a clip that quickly went viral.
‘In a couple of days, I’m gonna be heading home and my heart is aching thinking about the people, the children, the families, all over America, who are being mercilessly targeted by ICE. I’m thinking about all of their pain and how their lives are being destroyed right in front of us.’
Gaga then drew attention to the recent fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, an incident that has sparked widespread scrutiny and protests.
‘I’m also thinking about Minnesota and everyone back at home who is living in so much fear and searching for answers on what we all should do,’ she said.
She continued, ‘When entire communities lose their sense of safety and belonging, it breaks something in all of us.
‘I hope that you’ll all stand with us tonight. I know we’re not in America right now, but we are with our community and we love you.’
She went on to dedicate the song Come to Mama to ‘everyone who is suffering, to everyone who’s feeling alone and helpless, anyone who’s lost a loved one and is it having a difficult time, an impossible time, seeing when the end will be near.’
She went on to say, ‘We need to get back to a place of safety and peace and accountability.
‘Good people shouldn’t have to fight so hard and risk their lives for well-being and respect and I hope, I hope our leaders are listening. I hope you’re listening to us ask you to change your course of action swiftly and have mercy on everyone in our country.
‘At a time where it doesn’t feel like it’s easy to have hope, it is my community and my friends, my family that hold me up. So, I would like to sing a song that does have some hope in it, to try to give us a little bit tonight.’
Gaga is the latest high-profile celebrity to speak out against ICE, joining a growing list of stars condemning the agency in the wake of Minneapolis’ deadly incident.
Mark Ruffalo, Olivia Wilde, Wanda Sykes and others have criticized ICE at recent events including the Golden Globes and Sundance Film Festival.
Ariana Grande took to social media to voice her outrage, sharing a tweet from New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani.
‘As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today. ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.’
Mandy Moore also weighed in via Instagram Stories, reposting a New York Times article headlined: ‘Federal Agents Shoot And Kill A Person In Minneapolis, Officials Say.’
Even Jennifer Aniston, who rarely comments on politics, broke her usual silence.
Following the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by a U.S. Border Patrol officer, the 56-year-old Friends star shared a series of Instagram slides expressing her perspective on the incident.
The first slide Aniston posted featured a statement from Pretti’s parents, originally shared by Senator Bernie Sanders:
‘We are heartbroken but also very angry,’ they wrote. ‘Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact.
‘I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.
‘Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.’
In another slide, Aniston shared footage of Pretti addressing colleagues at the VA hospital as they mourned a deceased veteran:
‘Today we remember that freedom is not free,’ he said. ‘May we never forget and always remember our brothers and sisters who have served so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom. So in this moment, we remember and give thanks for their dedication and selfless service to our nation, in the cause of our freedom. In this solemn hour, we read them our honor and our gratitude.’
A third set of slides encouraged viewers to contact local leaders to speak out about the shooting, accompanied by the Primitive Radio Gods’ 1996 hit Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand.
Other notable celebrities speaking out on social media included Olivia Rodrigo, Stephen King, Kathy Griffin, and Cynthia Nixon, all expressing anger and dismay over Saturday’s events in Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, Gaga is wrapping the Tokyo leg of The Mayhem Ball tour tomorrow.
It’s unclear whether she will attend the Grammys on Sunday, where she earned a career-high seven nominations, including Album of the Year for Mayhem, Song of the Year for Abracadabra’and Record of the Year for Abracadabra.
Her tally tops her previous record of six nods, earned back in 2010.
