NEW YORK, June 20: Pop star Bebe Rexha was hit in the face and injured by a cellphone hurled from the audience at a hometown show in New York City Sunday night, and a man was arrested, police said.
The Grammy-nominated, multiplatinum-selling singer-songwriter was taken to a hospital after the phone hit her, police said. A bruise and a bandage were visible above her left eye in social media posts she made Monday.
“I’m good, yeah, I’m feelin’ alright,” she sang in a TikTok video, taking a line from “I’m Good (Blue),” her recent hit with DJ David Guetta.
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Rexha, 33, was on stage at Pier 17, a rooftop venue in Manhattan, when the phone was thrown, police said. Video posted on social media showed the phone ricocheting off the artist’s head, and then Rexha grabbing her face and sinking to her knees.
Nicolas Malvagna, 27, of New Jersey, was released without bail after being arraigned Monday on assault, aggravated harassment and other charges. Each is either a misdemeanor or a violation.
According to a court complaint, Malvagna told a third party he tried to hit Rexha with the phone at the end of the show because he thought “it would be funny.”
A message seeking comment was sent to his attorney.
A three-time Grammy nominee, Rexha is known for such hits as “I’m Good (Blue),” “Meant to Be,” featuring country’s Florida Georgia Line, and “I Got You.” Raised in New York, she was a songwriter for other artists before becoming a solo star.
“What I’m learning is that not everybody is going to connect with you and understand you, and that’s OK,” she told The Associated Press in April, shortly before the release of her latest album, “Bebe.”
“And I feel like you have to just be your realest, truest version of yourself because, at the end of the day, if you try to change yourself to be liked by other people, you’re not really being yourself,” she added.
She is next scheduled to perform in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
