An arrest, a violent slap and rogue Skittles: Concertgoers are not okay.

Singer Ava Max was performing in Los Angeles when a man stormed the stage and hit her.

Videos show her performing her final song 'The Motto' on stage when a man struck her in the face. The footage shows Max recoiling and holding her eye as she continues with the performance, while the man is taken away by security.

Following the show, she wrote on Twitter: "He slapped me so hard that he scratched the inside of my eye. He's never coming to a show again."

Ava Max gets injured on stage after a fan “slapped” her. pic.twitter.com/BLVbXAhawE

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 21, 2023

According to the man's social media, where he regularly shares photos of Max, he was attempting to give her his number.

He was not arrested, and TMZ reported he said he wanted to "hold" her – and feeling entitled to touch someone without their permission is not a great defence. 

This happened just days after bad fan behaviour also took place at a Bebe Rexha concert in New York City.

While performing on June 18, Rexha was struck in the face and injured by a phone thrown at the stage.

Bebe Rexha gets hit by phone in the face on stage pic.twitter.com/AJ1Xj7NtfR

— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) June 19, 2023

In clips of the event, Rexha is shown dropping to the floor after being hit. She left the stage and was taken to a nearby hospital, where she required stitches.

The 27-year-old man who threw the phone allegedly said he thought "it would be funny", according to a criminal complaint, and he wanted to take part in a TikTok trend where a celebrity takes a selfie.

He will face court on July 31 for misdemeanour charges of harassment and assault.

These two incidents are the latest examples of concertgoers acting up.

Last year, Tyler the Creator specifically asked fans to stop throwing things on stage ("Now mid-show I gotta move it, what’s the logic? F**king stop," he tweeted). 

Fans were also outraged when footage showed a teddy bear hitting Lady Gaga in the head as she performed during her Chromatica Ball tour.

Last November, Harry Styles was hit in the eye after a fan threw Skittles on stage as he performed during his world tour. Other videos show fans regularly throwing objects like hats and sunglasses, with semi-regular videos showing him looking unimpressed as they hit him.

Other viral videos popular on TikTok document the moment Styles was hit in the groin by a drink bottle, and sprayed in the face with water as he sang.

@lovingyoustheantidote_ always a comedian, even when he gets hit in the crotch 😭 #harrystyles #hslot #chicago #loveontour #concert #fyp ♬ Speak Now - Taylor Swift

This is not an entirely new phenomenon – throwing things (including yourself) on stage can be traced back to throwing tomatoes at theatre performers, and of course, has long resulted in bras on stage.

But the impact of concert clips regularly going viral on social media like TikTok post-pandemic has certainly played a part in the rise of bad, overly exuberant crowds.

Is Harry Styles looking at you because you hurt him by hurling a bottle at his crotch better than him not looking at you, but also not getting hurt? Social media engagement would have you think so.

The result is a lot of really dehumanising behaviour. Attempting to get an interaction or a good video from a performer without their permission is entirely selfish – and points to fans seeing them more like tools than actual people.

Now, we have two pop stars on tour with injured eyes and no doubt many more with heightened anxieties about what their crowd could do.

Feature image: Instagram/TikTok/Twitter.

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