We’re all idiots for not realizing Lady Gaga didn’t actually jump off the roof

Of course Lady Gaga didn’t actually jump off the roof of the stadium.

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Lady Gaga’s roof stunt during her Super Bowl halftime show was brilliant on several levels. But the best part was definitely convincing everyone that she actually entered the stadium by leaping from the roof. Of course she didn’t, and we’re all stupid for thinking she really did. 

Gaga and the halftime show organizers did a great job generating buzz around her alleged death-defying entrance, first leaking to the New York Post three weeks before the game that she was “pushing” to start the show on the roof. When the roof of the stadium started to open as her stage was assembled, it appeared those rumors were true. 

Do you say roof or ruff pic.twitter.com/H1Hf60GL2W

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 6, 2017

And then—boom!—there she was on top of the stadium, reciting the pledge of allegiance. Next thing you know, she jumps like a flying squirrel into the great unknown and the camera cuts to her descent. 

Wait, Lady Gaga seriously jumped from the roof pic.twitter.com/Io5SxY4l0i

— SI Media (@SISportsMedia) February 6, 2017

It looked great on TV, but perceptive fans in the stadium would have noticed Gaga was never actually standing with her toes over the edge of the stadium’s gaping maw. 

LADY. GAGA.#SuperBowl #LadyGaga #PepsiHalftime pic.twitter.com/VKwvCIZpu5

— NFL Brasil (@NFLBrasil) February 6, 2017

Anyway, For The Win and Wiredspoke to representatives from Intel, the company behind the drone display that opened the show, who confirmed that the roof bit was pre-taped during the week before the game. 

“In February, you don’t know what it will be like during Super Bowl day,” Natalie Cheung told FTW. “We’d hate to plan all this and, if the wind speeds are too high or if it’s raining and the roof is closed, no one can see this spectacular show. So our creative team as well as the Super Bowl creative team felt this would be best to be filmed. Lady Gaga also was on the roof when this was filmed, and from a logistics and creative perspective, it’s a bit hard for her to go from the roof all the way down to the floor of the stadium.”

Those are all valid concerns, but Deadspin’s Barry Patchesky raises another good point: There would have been the risk that Gaga could fall tragically like pro wrestler Owen Hart in 1999. 

Regardless of whether she actually risked life and limb, Gaga’s halftime show was definitely one of the greatest in Super Bowl history.