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Harry Styles struck in the face by object during Vienna concert

Incident is the latest involving audience members throwing objects at performers during live shows

Roisin O'Connor
Monday 10 July 2023 08:02 BST
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Watch moment Harry Styles hit in face with object during Vienna show

Harry Styles was hit in the face by a thrown object during a live performance in Vienna over the weekend.

Footage shared online from the gig at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Austria on Saturday (8 June) showed the British pop star walking across the stage before being struck near the eye by an item that flies through the air.

Styles then winces in pain and can be seen his face in his hands.

Myriam, a fan from Germany who was at the Vienna show, said the “As It Was” singer was hit after he performed his 2017 single “Sign Of The Times” at the start of the encore.

“He still kept touching his face a lot. It looked like it hurt very much. It seems like he had to collect himself and then he turned back to us and kept performing,” she said.

She said that it “shook” her a lot witnessing the incident happen a few metres away from her, adding: “I want this never to happen to him again. As it’s happened too many times already now.”

Styles’ representatives have been contacted for comment.

The singer, 29, has previously been affected by fans throwing items on stage. Last month he was hit in the face by a bunch of flowers during a gig in Cardiff.

This latest incident comes shortly after a number of other pop singers have been struck by items thrown by members of the audience.

Last month, pop star Bebe Rexha was hit in the face by a mobile phone as she performed in New York. A 27-year-old man was later arrested and charged with assault.

After the incident, the 33-year-old singer posted a selfie on her Instagram which showed a large purple bruise on her eyelid and stitching tape on her eyebrow.

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Despite the night not ending as planned, she still hailed the concert as “an amazing show in my hometown”.

Also in June, pop-rock singer Pink was shocked when a fan threw what she claimed was a bag of her mother’s ashes onto the stage.

(Twitter/Bebe Rexha/Instagram)

A few days later, singer Ava Max said an alleged stage invader “slapped her so hard” during a show in Los Angeles that it scratched the inside of her eye, while country-pop singer Kelsea Ballerini was hit in the face by a friendship bracelet thrown by a fan during her concert in Idaho.

Adele spoke out against the trend of throwing objects onstage during a performance as part of her ongoing Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace.

“Have you noticed how people are like, forgetting f***ing show etiquette at the moment?” the Grammy-winning British singer asked her audience. “People just throwing s*** on stage, have you seen that?

She then joked: “I f***ing dare you. Dare you to throw something at me and I’ll f***ing kill you.”

Additional reporting by Press Association

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