Florence Pugh hit by flying object at Dune film fan event

‘Don’t Worry Darling’ star had an unfortunate surprise while posing for fans in São Paulo, Brazil

Florence Pugh became the latest victim of the troubling flying object trend after being hit by an item thrown by a fan.

The British actor attended Comic-Con in São Paulo, Brazil on Sunday (3 December) alongside her castmates from the forthcoming fantasy film, Dune: Part Two.

Video footage from the event shows Pugh posing for photos with colleagues such as Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Austin Butler in front of an audience.

Without warning, an object flies towards them and strikes Pugh, 27, on the cheek.

The Little Women star widened her mouth in shock and touched her face. In the clips available, Pugh appears to say “wow” or “ow”, before leaning over to pick up the item.

Meanwhile, Butler and Chalamet looked towards her to check whether she was OK. Zendaya and the film’s director, Denis Villeneuve, appear to have missed the shocking moment due to being in a separate conversation.

The Independent has reached out to a representative of Florence Pugh for comment.

Recent months have seen a marked increase in celebrities having objects thrown in their direction by fans and onlookers.

One of the most notable cases happened in June, when pop singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha was struck in the face by a flying phone while performing on stage in New York City. The star, best known for her vocal performance on the track “I’m Good (Blue)” with David Guetta, sustained a black eye and her injury required stitches.

Pugh’s Don’t Worry Darling castmate Harry Styles was struck in the face by a flying object while performing in Vienna in July, after which he winced in pain and held his face in his hands.

Last month, Taylor Swift made an announcement mid-concert urging fans to stop throwing gifts on stage amid fears her backup dancers could slip and injure themselves on them.

Then, American R&B singer Ari Lennox had a bottle thrown at her while she performed her 2022 single “Pressure” in Inglewood, California on Wednesday (29 November).

Though the bottle missed her, Lennox was upset nonetheless and paused the show to admonish the crowd for the thrower’s behaviour. “Don’t you ever disrespect a beautiful Black woman on the f***ing stage like that,” she said into the mic, before being escorted from the stage.

Florence Pugh (Getty Images for The Business of Fashion 500 Gala)

Dune: Part Two follows 2021’s Dune, both of which are adapted from Frank Herbert’s famed sci-fi novels.

The sequel was originally scheduled for release in November, but it was pushed to early 2024 due to the actors’ and writers’ strikes that effectively shut down Hollywood for several months this year.