Harry Styles Is the Latest Artist to Be Hit in the Face by a Flying Object at a Concert
There’s a concerning trend currently happening that involves throwing objects at artists on stage. Harry Styles is the latest victim. He was hit in the face by an unknown object during his concert in Vienna, Austria on Saturday July 8.
Harry Styles winces in pain after being hit by an unknown object
In this video, we see Styles (29) strut his signature strut down the stage at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium only to stop immediately after being pelted by an unknown object near his eye. The “As It Was” singer can be seen wincing in pain as he bends over clutching his face. He then exits the stage.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Styles has been hit by flying objects while performing. The former One Direction member had to take a brief pause after being hit in the groin last year in Chicago. In Los Angeles, he had Skittles thrown at him. At Madison Square Garden, cold chicken nuggets were the projectile of choice.
Other artists who have recently been hit by audience-thrown objects
Styles is only the latest artist pelted by an object thrown from the audience at a show.
Earlier this month, Kelsea Ballerini was hit in the face with a bracelet someone threw on stage. Upon impact, the singer turned from the crowd and had a brief conversation with her fiddle player before exiting the stage to take a break. When she returned she told the crowd, “Don’t throw things.”
In June, Bebe Rexha was hit in the face with a phone and needed to be taken to the hospital. The man who threw the phone was arraigned in New York City on misdemeanor charges of harassment and assault.
A day after the phone incident, someone attending Ava Max’s Fonda Theater show rushed the artist on stage and slapped her.
Not all thrown objects make contact with the artists. For example, one fan threw their mother’s ashes on stage during a P!nk performance in Hyde Park in London in June. During a Lil Nas X show in July, a fan threw a sex toy on stage and while the rapper initially jumped back in fear, eventually laughed about it and jokingly asked his audience “Who threw their p**** onstage?”
A problematic long-standing tradition
Throwing mementos on stage is not a new tradition at concerts. Even The Beatles were pelted with candy because John Lennon and George Harrison once innocently said during an interview that they liked candy. The Fab Four all made comments about how they wished their fans would stop, and yet the practice continued.
Throwing things like candy, chicken nuggets, bracelets, and sex toys on stage is one thing. These items are clear offerings for the entertainers. But as much as the audience may want to connect with the artist they’re witnessing in that way, several artists have come out and outright asked their fans to stop throwing objects on stage, no matter how well-intentioned. Then there’s incidents like throwing a phone at Rexha’s face and Max getting slapped. These acts clearly have a more sinister intention: Artist be damned, I will be the cause of a moment that disrupts. Does it need to be said? Don’t do this. Go make a TikTok about something else. Touch some grass. Leave the singers alone.
