On August 6, Lady Gaga performed at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. As she has done on her Chromatica Ball tour, she closed her encore with “Hold My Hand,” her song from Top Gun: Maverick. As she sang the track, though, she was struck on the head by an object thrown from the audience. Thankfully, it was a soft object, a doll, and Gaga was unfazed, continuing to perform through it.
how do some fans think this is okay… this is so dangerous and sad. :( pic.twitter.com/CnmOP88yOF
— jojo 🌈🪩🩵✨🍓🐄 (@jomaticaaa) August 7, 2022
As Stereogum notes, a Twitter user claimed credit for the throw, sharing photos of the doll they threw and writing (translated from Spanish), “From Mexico to Toronto,” and adding in another tweet (also translated), “Out of nerves I didn’t record when I threw it hahahaha, sorry @ladygaga.”
https://twitter.com/_Richiiex/status/1556147427761168384
The doll is of Dr. Simi, the mascot of Mexican pharmacy chain Farmacias Similares. Throwing Dr. Simi dolls on stage (but not necessarily at the performer’s head) has apparently become a new concert tradition in Mexico since last year. The character is popular enough that in 2018, a Mexican 3-year-old generated some attention for their Dr. Simi-themed birthday party.
It's a recent Mexican tradition to throw a Dr Simi plushie at the stage as a gift, I'm pretty sure they weren't aiming at her face 🫣 sorry Gaga, they were trying to show some love pic.twitter.com/wqWIbjV7CK
— Angel ⋆｡°⭑ (@monstruohumano) August 7, 2022
All in all, Gaga fared better than Kid Cudi did at the Rolling Loud festival in July, when he cut his set short after fans kept throwing things at him despite his stern warning.
