Lady Gaga Cancels Indonesia Show Amid Threats of Violence

Lady Gaga backstage during her tour, the 'Born This Way Ball'

Lady Gaga has canceled her concert in Jakarta, Indonesia after Islamic hardliners threatened violence, the Associated Press reports.

The concert, scheduled for June 3rd at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, had sold out its 52,000 tickets, though it has been a question for some time whether Lady Gaga would receive the required permits for the event to go on.

Now a group called the Islamic Defenders Front, calling the singer “a messenger of the devil,” has claimed that its supporters had bought tickets to the show and planned to stop the performance from within the venue. They also said that thousands of protesters would confront Lady Gaga at the airport if she entered the country.

Officials said they would issue permits only if the singer toned down the controversial elements of the Born This Way Ball. Lady Gaga and her promoters declined to change the act.

“With threats if the concert goes ahead, Lady Gaga’s side is calling off the concert,” Minola Sebayang, a lawyer for concert promoter Big Daddy, told the Associated Press. “This is not only about Lady Gaga’s security, but extends to those who will be watching her.”

Another representative for Big Daddy said that ticketholders would be fully refunded.