INPUT MAG – Richie, a 29-year-old nutritionist who lives in Morelos, Mexico, had been saving up cash to go see Lady Gaga in concert since 2019.
“It’s been almost 10 years since the last time Gaga came to Mexico, so we all know it won’t happen soon,” says Richie, who also runs a handicraft business on Instagram.
Rather than wait another decade for Gaga to come to him, Richie decided to travel to her show in Toronto on August 6.
Richie (who did not share his surname with Input) is part of a WhatsApp group with other Little Monsters — the name for Gaga’s fandom — in Mexico. As he was preparing for his trip, Richie says, one of the chat participants “asked who had pit tickets to throw Gaga a Simi.”
“It was NEVER my intention to hit her in the HEAD. I just wanted her to see the PLUSHY or maybe grab it, but it didn’t go AS PLANNED.”
It was a reference to a plush toy character called Dr. Simi that has become something of a meme for Mexican music fans, who throw them at their favorite artists during concerts as a way of welcoming them to the country.
Richie deliberated briefly, then decided to make a detour on his way to the airport to pick up a doll. “I was like yeah, let’s do that, it’s a Mexican tradition,” he says. “If she doesn’t come to Mexico, we will take Mexico to her.” He wrote on the plushy toy’s white jacket: “MEXICO STILL LOVES U… paws up!”
Little did he know that when he did, in fact, throw the Simi onstage — hitting Gaga in the head while she performed her Top Gun: Maverick theme song “Hold My Hand” — it would cause an international stir.
Video and stills of what some perceived as an attack careened around social media. BuzzFeed weighed in with this headline: “How Do Some Fans Think This Is OK?”: Lady Gaga Got Hit In The Head By Something While Performing, And This Needs To Stop.” … READ MORE.
