Please don’t throw your phones at SZA during her concerts.
The 34-year-old singer recently wrapped up the Australian leg of her SOS Tour in Melbourne at the Rod Laver Arena on May 2. However, the string of concerts down under didn’t go without incident.
Make no mistake, SZA has a very generous demeanor when it comes to her fans, as evidenced by an undated video where she reportedly stayed an additional 45 minutes post-concert to sign objects that fans threw at her onstage.
However, everyone has their limits and SZA is no exception to this rule.
In an undated clip circulating on social media, the TDE songstress threatened to leave the stage when cell phones were allegedly being thrown at her on stage.
“I will leave,” SZA told the crowd. “Do not throw up any cell phones, I’m a person. That’s crazy.”
It’s not clear how many phones were thrown at SZA to merit her perfectly justifiable reaction.
After all, the situation echoes an unfortunate experience that pop singer Bebe Rexha, 34, endured last June when she was struck in the eye by a fan named Nicolas Malvagna, 27, during a concert in New York City. The concert ended abruptly with Rexha receiving three stitches at a nearby hospital.
Malvagna was charged with assault in connection with the incident. In a statement sent through his lawyer, he apologized for his actions and clarified that he threw the phone in hopes of her taking a selfie for him as a keepsake.
Artists like Drake, Cardi B, Latto, GloRilla, and Ari Lennox have had incidents where foreign objects were thrown at them as part of a concerning wave of audience behavior during last summer’s concert season. Recently, Nicki Minaj threw a small object back into the crowd after it barely missed her face at the Detroit stop of her Pink Friday 2 Tour last month.
“I’m never off the clock for my fans, because I love that shit,” SZA told Rolling Stone last October.
“They’re my family, and they’re my people. I know what it’s like to feel small or like somebody doesn’t care, because that’s who I was my whole life. In middle school, elementary school, I wasn’t popular. So I try to make sure n***as know ‘I hear you, I see you. I have time to stop for you. Yes, we can smoke together, you can come backstage. You can come to my house if you want.’ Hella fans have spent the night with me and been to my house many times.”
She added, “How do I determine who’s safe to do that? I don’t. And sometimes it feels really bad.”
