Drake once sang, “Call me on my cellphone,” but never once did he say to fling one at him while he’s on stage performing.
That is exactly what appears to have happened in Chicago on Wednesday, amounting to the latest incident in an alarmingly long list of similar situations in the last few weeks.
The “Hotline Bling” rapper was performing at the United Center in the Windy City on his “It’s All A Blur Tour” when a cellphone was flung onto the stage, seemingly hitting Drake in the arm, footage posted to social media by a concertgoer showed.
It’s the latest instance following a slew of other artists who’ve been the target of concertgoers throwing items on stage, including Pink, Bebe Rexha, Kelsea Ballerini and Ava Max.
Ballerini was struck in the face by a bracelet that was thrown at her last week during a performance in Idaho, as seen in social media videos. The singer flinched mid-song when the object hit her in the head, causing her to pause the song and step offstage.
Last month, Rexha was rushed off stage at her concert in New York City when someone threw a cell phone that hit her in the head. She updated her fans on her Instagram page the next day saying, “I’m good,” and posted closeup photos of the significant injury she suffered to her eye.
A man in attendance at the show was reportedly arrested and charged with felony assault for using his cellphone as a weapon.
Around the same time, footage posted on social media by a concertgoer showed Max being struck in the face by a man who rushed the stage at her Los Angeles concert before he was swept away by security.
Pink, for her part, has received both a wheel of cheese and human ashes thrown at her while performing on stage, in two separate incidents at her shows.
The increased vulnerability that performers are facing in recent weeks has sparked outcry from other artists like singers Adele and Charlie Puth.
During a recent concert in Las Vegas as part of her residency at Ceasar’s Palace Hotel & Casino, Adele joked, “I f**king dare you, dare you to throw something at me” after she asked if they had noticed that people appear to be “forgetting f**king show etiquette at the moment.”
“Stop throwing things at the artist!” Adele added.
Source: CNN Entertainment