Kelsea Ballerini to Pink: Performers keep getting pelted with stuff. What’s going on?

TJ Macias
·3 min read
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Singer Kelsea Ballerini has become the latest victim in an unusual — and odd — trend of performers who have been on the receiving end of random objects being thrown at them while on stage.

The “Dibs” artist had to pause her show in Boise, Idaho, on June 28 after a fan nailed her in the face with an unknown object while she was performing “If You Go Down” at Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Garden.

After tending to her face and changing outfits, the 29-year-old addressed the crowd to explain what happened and spoke about her fans’ safety, a viral TikTok video shows.

“Can we just talk about what happened?” she asked. “All I care about is keeping everyone safe. If you ever don’t feel safe, please let someone around you know.”

@weweregolden Replying to @kelsea ballerini fans a real class act, heart of actual gold hellvndbvck on twitter @Kelsea Ballerini #kelseaballerini #heartfirsttour #stopthrowingthingsonstage #subjecttochange #kelseaballerinifan ♬ original sound - kelsea ballerini fans

“If anyone’s pushing too much or you just have that gut feeling, just always flag it. Don’t throw things. You know?” she added.

Ballerini is just the latest victim in a long string of occurrences involving fans either injuring performers by throwing heavy objects, or just plain weirding them out.

Recently, Pink was left puzzled after a fan threw a bag of their mother’s ashes on stage while she was singing.

Other encounters in June included Bebe Rexha being hurried off the stage in New York after a cellphone hit her in the face and Ava Max being hit by a stage crasher during a Los Angeles performance. Last year during a show in Toronto, someone threw what appeared to be a stuffed toy at Lady Gaga, as she sang the encore song “Hold My Hand,” grazing her in the head.



And, of course, there’s the history of Harry Styles being showered in, well, everything from Skittles to tampons to even chicken nuggets.

During a 2022 performance in New York City, Styles replied to the crowd after they told him to eat the chicken: “I don’t eat chicken, sorry. I don’t eat meat.”

Even brands have taken to calling out fans for their rude behavior, including Skittles taking out a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times, asking people to “Protect the rainbow. Taste the rainbow. But please, don’t throw the rainbow.”

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