[UPDATE 2/11/24]: The man who climbed Las Vegas, NV’s Sphere on Wednesday morning caused more than $100,000 in damages to the venue, according to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.

The climber, a content creator named Maison Des Champs who goes by the nickname “Pro-Life Spider-Man,” scaled the 366-foot building via its high-tech Exosphere, comprised of 58 million lights arranged into 1.2 million “pucks.” According to a Sphere representative, “The lights are on a track called carriers, which are made of aluminum and are not rated to hold a person’s body weight. Since the parts are so delicate, the report states Sphere officials do repair work from inside the venue and not from the Exosphere.”

Per an arrest report reviewed by KTNV Las Vegas, “A Sphere engineer was inside the building when he saw Maison Des Champs climbing the Exosphere. He asked Des Champs how he was doing and Des Champs said he was okay. The engineer continued tracking him on his climb up and Des Champs told him he planned on climbing back down the way he came. The engineer said he notified his supervisors and police who decided to meet Des Champs at the top of the Sphere.”

In the arrest report, police noted that it would have been a “security concern” to allow Des Champs to climb down the way he came, adding that if they didn’t bring him down from the top of the venue, they would have been forced to perform a helicopter rescue. Police asked the aforementioned engineer to go to the top of the venue and remove light tracks called carriers to allow Des Champs to climb to safety inside the massive structure.

Sphere officials said that it will take time to fully assess the real damage from the stunt due to the large number of lights Des Champs disrupted, though they anticipate the that the cost of the damages will exceed $100,000.

Des Champs on Saturday posted a note disagreeing with the reported total damages. The post also alleges that police would not let him use the bathroom while he was in custody for roughly three hours, so he “ended up having to go a little in [his] pants.”

Des Champs is facing various charges including destroying property greater than $5,000 and conspiracy to destroy private property. Read more about the stunt below.

[2/7/24]: On today’s episode of “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” a man who goes by the moniker “Pro-Life Spider-Man” was arrested on Wednesday after climbing the 366-foot-tall Exosphere of Las Vegas, NV’s Sphere.

The climber and others suspected to be involved in the stunt were detained by Las Vegas Metro Police Department officials at the scene. A statement on the incident shared with Live For Live Music by a Sphere Entertainment spokesperson reads, “We are grateful to the local authorities for their support in this matter. The individuals involved are currently in the custody of LVMPD.”

The climber, an anti-abortion evangelist named Maison Des Champs, stated in a post on his Instagram account that he made the climb to “raise money for a woman in a crisis pregnancy.” You might also call it “using an outlandish gimmick to further your political agenda and garner personal notoriety under the guise of helping people.” We’re sure it’s one of those.

Des Champs is no stranger to this sort of stunt. He has been arrested on various occasions for scaling large buildings as a ploy to spread his anti-abortion and religious ideals, including the New York Times building in New York (2022), the Devon Tower in Oklahoma City (2022), and Chicago’s Accenture Tower (2023). He was also arrested in Phoenix in early 2023 when he climbed a building near State Farm Stadium days before it hosted Super Bowl LVII. Of note, Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, situated a short drive from Sphere, is due to host Super Bowl LVIII next week.

A partner of anti-abortion organization Let Them Live and influential conservative institution Turning Point USA, Des Champs’ M.O. is listed proudly in the bio of his Instagram account, which boasts 275,000 followers: “I climb Skyscrapers to raise money for women in crisis pregnancies. Christ is King!”

Related: Dead & Company Expand ‘Dead Forever’ Sphere Residency To 24 Shows [Update]

While many of the comments on Pro-Life Spider-Man’s posts about the Sphere stunt unsurprisingly applaud his political/religious crusade (“Hope you mooned Biden when you got on top,” one user said), various commenters have questioned his methods and intentions. “Stay out of women’s business,” said one opposed commenter, “You are part of the problem, not the solution.”

Added another user, “Spider-Man would never try to enforce his religion onto others.”

U2 is due to perform at Sphere tonight. Phish and Dead & Company are both scheduled for multi-night stints at the state-of-the-art venue in the coming months. For a full schedule, head here.

Scroll down to view a collection of photos and video clips of Maison Des Champs climbing Sphere.

 

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A post shared by Maison DesChamps (@prolife.spiderman)

 

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A post shared by Maison DesChamps (@prolife.spiderman)