Apparently no celebrity is safe onstage in 2023 — not even Florence Pugh. On Sunday, while posing for photos with Dune: Part Two co-stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Austin Butler after speaking on a Comic-Con panel in São Paulo, Brazil, an audience member chucked an unidentifiable object at Pugh, hitting her in the face.
Videos show Pugh flinching, and she appears to say “ow” before putting her hand to her eye. Butler and Chalamet looked as surprised as she did. Earlier, during the panel, Pugh had described her excitement about being part of the second Dune movie, saying: “I had an amazing time coming in and just hanging around with these people, let alone actually getting to work with them,” she said.
Pugh is unfortunately not the only celebrity to have something thrown at them while doing their job onstage this year. Last week, a purported fan threw a water bottle at Ari Lennox, barely missing her. Over the summer, an audience member threw a sex toy at Lil Nas X as he performed, a fan in Vienna threw something at Harry Styles, and — in one of the stranger incidents — someone threw what they claimed were their mother’s ashes at Pink. Taylor Swift, Cardi B, and Kelsea Ballerini have all been on the receiving end of various objects, including jewelry, phones, and bottles. In June, Nicolas Malvagna was arrested and charged with assault and harassment after he threw a cell phone at Bebe Rexha during her concert, causing her to go to the hospital and get stitches. According to court documents reported on by the Los Angeles Times, Malvagna threw the phone because he thought hitting her with it would be “funny.” While performing in Argentina last month, Swift asked fans not to toss things onstage, saying: “It really freaks me out when stuff gets thrown on the stage.”
