Nicki Minaj is making headlines after hurling something back into the crowd at the Detroit stop of her Pink Friday 2 world tour on April 20, 2024. Videos from the concert at Little Caesars Arena shows an object landing on the stage while the rapper was performing. Minaj then walked over to where the object landed and threw it forcefully back into the crowd.
Incidents like this one with Nicki Minaj are not isolated. In fact, they happen more often than one might think. While it’s not a new concept for people to toss things on stage while an artist is performing (think bras being thrown on stage at prolific rock bands in the 80s and 90s), it certainly has ramped up in the past few years.
Many accounts of artists getting injured by objects being thrown on stage while they perform have been popping up recently. Most notably, Harry Styles, Kelsea Ballerini, and Bebe Rexha have all been affected by the trend of throwing objects on stage. At one of the shows during his 2022/2023 Los Angeles residency at the Kia Forum, Styles was in visible discomfort after a fan threw a handful of Skittles on stage, one of which hit him in the eye. Ballerini faced a similar issue after getting hit in the eye by a beaded friendship bracelet at a performance in Boise, Idaho in 2023.
Bebe Rexha – Flickr/Nuta Lucian
Perhaps the most damaging example of this is what happened to Bebe Rexha in June of 2023. Rexha had to get multiple stitches after getting hit in the eye by a phone that someone threw on stage.
Though most artists have not had as direct of a response to the issue as Minaj, artists are still pleading with fans not to throw items at the stage. Ballerini took to her Instagram after the incident in Boise, telling fans “all I care about is keeping everyone safe” and not to throw things. Charlie Puth spoke up on his own socials after what happened with Bebe Rexha, telling fans that “this trend of throwing things at performers while they are on stage must come to an end. It’s so disrespectful and very dangerous.”
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