With a long blonde wig and a presidential sash, Lipe Araujo tried to go unnoticed, as he walked down Rua Diana, towards Allianz Parque, before Palmeiras x Goiás this Friday (15). But he didn’t even take ten steps past the police barrier and already posed for the first of many selfies he would take until he reached Gate A, where an ESPN team was waiting for him for a live entrance.
“Aunt Leila, Aunt Leila”, the Palmeiras residents shouted. And Lipe, helpfully, responded with the inflection and Rio accent that every Palmeiras resident recognizes from afar. When many people gathered around him at the same time, Tia Leila da Torcida didn’t bat an eyelid: “Look at the restrictive measure, huh!”, she said, to general laughter.
The comedian, in addition to going live on TV, was at Allianz on work. Hired by a road transport company, Lipe was going to participate in the official tour of Allianz Parque. Just one of the many publications he has already made with the character that satirizes the club president.
“I hope she likes it,” Lipe told Trivela, when asked what he imagined Leila thought of the character. “I’ve never met her, I’d like to meet her,” he said. “I’m not disrespectful, so I think he would appreciate it,” she said.
But Lipe does not hide that Tia Leila da Torcida is also a form of protest. Whenever she can, she gives the leader a nudge. When she responds to requests for reinforcements by saying “Guys, do you want reinforcements bigger than the plane?”, for example.
The protective measure cited by Lipe when he found himself surrounded alludes to the court decision that determined a distance of 300 meters from three Mancha Alviverde managers in relation to Leila Pereira’s workplace.
“I do stand-up, I have my show. But Aunt Leila also became a job,” said Lipe, before fixing her locks and smiling for another photo from a fan.
