TOKYO, Jan 30 — Lady Gaga used her Tokyo Dome stage not just for spectacle but for a pointed political plea, pausing her Mayhem Ball concert to condemn the actions of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and to express solidarity with Americans “who are being mercilessly targeted”. 

Her remarks, reported by X fan site Gaga Daily, came during the fourth of her five-night run in the Japanese capital, ahead of her return to the United States later this week.

“I want to take a second to talk about something that’s extremely important to me,” she told the crowd last night, her voice steady but charged. 

“Something important to people all over the world and especially in America right now. 

“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.”

Her comments place her among a growing chorus of high-profile figures criticising the agency in recent weeks, following public condemnations at events such as the Golden Globes and Sundance Film Festival by Mark Ruffalo, Olivia Wilde, Wanda Sykes and others.

Gaga also referenced the shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, saying she was thinking of “everyone back at home who is living in so much fear and searching for answers on what we all should do”. 

The singer is scheduled to perform in St Paul, Minnesota, in April. 

“When entire communities lose their sense of safety and belonging, it breaks something in all of us,” she said. 

“I know we’re not in America right now, but we are with our community and we love you.”

She then dedicated Come to Mama, from her 2016 album Joanne, to “everyone who is suffering, to everyone who’s feeling alone and helpless, anyone who’s lost a loved one”, adding: “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.”

Gaga also urged political leaders to “change [their] course of action swiftly and have mercy on everyone in our country”, telling fans that in a difficult moment for hope, it was her “community and [her] friends, [her] family that hold [her] up”.

The Japanese leg of the tour ends tomorrow, just ahead of her appearance at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, where she is nominated for seven awards — including album of the year for Mayhem and both song and record of the year for Abracadabra. 

The tally marks a career high, surpassing her previous record of six nominations in 2010, and puts her level with producers Jack Antonoff and Cirkut for the second-highest number of nods this year.