Bebe Rexha attacker reportedly threw phone at her head “because it would be funny”
The man who hurled a phone at Bebe Rexha during a gig has reportedly claimed that he did so because he thought it would be “funny”.
The incident took place at one of the pop singer’s headline shows in New York on Sunday (June 18), and was brought to a halt after she was struck in the face by a mobile phone.
Held at a rooftop venue called Pier 17, the device was thrown by a member of the audience, and fan-captured footage showed the artist grab her face in pain, before eventually dropping to her knees on the stage. Crew members immediately rushed to help her, and it was later revealed that she was seen by a medic and given stitches above her eye.
Now, it has been reported that a 27-year-old male was arrested by New York City police, and their preliminary investigation has determined that the cell phone was thrown “intentionally” at the 33-year-old star.
Absolutely great show ruined by a fan throwing their phone at @BebeRexha hopefully she is ok after that pic.twitter.com/4eBScgurv5
— Alex Chavez (@captiv_8_) June 19, 2023
The alleged assailant, Nicolas Malvagna, comes from New Jersey and was taken into custody and arraigned on Monday evening (June 19). He has been charged with two counts of assault in the third degree, as well as one count of harassment in the second degree; one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree; and one count of attempted assault in the third degree.
As per a report by Rolling Stone, The Manhattan District Attorney’s office confirmed that Malvagna both confessed to throwing the phone, but explained that he did it as a joke. “I was trying to see if I could hit her with the phone at the end of the show because it would be funny,” he reportedly said.
In a recent post on her TikTok page the singer shared an update, showing the full extent of her injury. The footage shows her in a car, singing a snippet of her 2022 track ‘I’m Good (Blue)’, while wearing a bandage on her face.
She also revealed a different image of the aftermath, and showed a cut above her eye from where the device hit her with the caption: “I’m good.” Check out both below.
@beberexha Im okay you guys
This is far from the first time that artists have had their performances interrupted by audience members throwing objects at them or onto the stage.
In recent years, more fans have been trying to throw their phones onto the stage in the hopes that the artist will interact with them or take an image, then return the phone to them. This was popularly seen with Harry Styles in 2018 after a video of the singer interacting with a fan who threw their phone onstage was uploaded online.
In other Bebe Rexha news, the singer recently released her latest full-length album ‘Bebe’. The new LP, which follows her 2021 LP ‘Better Mistakes’, arrived on April 28 and featured lead single ‘Heart Wants What It Wants’.
It also saw the singer join forces with artists including Snoop Dogg, Dolly Parton and David Guetta, for numerous collaboration tracks. Snoop appeared on the track ‘Satellite’, while Parton featured on the closing track ‘Seasons’.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
