Who is Nicolas Malvagna? Charges explored as man is arrested after throwing a phone at Bebe Rexha

Grammy-nominated pop singer and songwriter Bebe Rexha was performing at a concert in Manhattan when she was hit with a cell phone after a man from the audience hurled it at her. The incident happened on the night of June 18, Sunday. The alleged assailant has been identified as Nicolas Malvagna, a 27-year-old resident of Manalapan, New Jersey.

He was charged with assault and arrested soon after the incident. Currently, Malvagna is in police custody and was arraigned on June 19, Monday.

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The flying phone struck Bebe Rexha in the face

Bebe Rexha was performing at Manhattan’s famous The Rooftop at Pier 17 on the night of the attack. It was her thirteenth stop on her tour “Best F’n Night of My Life” to promote her latest album, Bebe.

Turns out, Rexha was halfway through her concert (around 10 pm) when Malvagna threw a phone aiming towards her. The object struck her face near the upper left cheek, right below her eye, prompting her to turn away from the audience and collapse to her knees in pain.

Fortunately, her crew members rushed onstage and immediately provided on-site medical help. Later, they took her to the nearby hospital, where she had to be given multiple stitches.

Unsurprisingly, this brought the show to an abrupt halt. Several video footage that was primarily focused on the concert, caught this incident on camera too.

Nicholas Malvagna, who is a luxury dog kennel worker from New Jersey, was immediately removed by security from the venue while he was called names by his fellow concertgoers. While it is still unclear why the assailant attacked Bebe Rexha, it is presumed that he wanted to stop her from getting off stage for a short break, while she was too close to the audience frontstage.

At present, Malvagna is facing two charges of assault, one charge of aggravated harassment, one charge of attempted assault, and one charge of harassment. He is set to stand before the court on July 31.

After the incident, the I’m Gonna Show You Crazy singer took to Instagram to share an update on her injuries with her fans. She was seen with a bruised eye, with stitches on her left brow. She captioned her post, “I’m good.” In addition, she also posted a video on TikTok, where she was seen singing the lyrics to her chart-busting song I’m Good, featuring David Guetta.

Interestingly, the songwriter who has worked closely with the likes of Eminem, Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, and Shinee was on Twitter earlier this month to slam netizens for fat-shaming her. She shared a mirror selfie revealing her tummy and captioned it, “Yes, I’m in my fat era, and what?”

Bebe Rexha has four other stops left in her tour, all scheduled for June. Currently, it is unknown whether she will continue with those or not.

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Bebe Rexha is Albanian in origin

Born as Bleta Rexha on August 30, 1989, in Brooklyn, New York City, Bebe Rexha’s ethnicity is Albanian and her parents hail from North Macedonia. She has been interested in the field of music since her teenage years and was part of her high school choir. She is also a self-taught guitarist and pianist.

She rose to fame when she submitted a song for the annual Grammy Career Day organized by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and won the “Best Teen Songwriter” award.

She is well-known for her songs, Me, Myself & I, I Got You, The Way I Are, and I’m a Mess among others. She is a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and calls herself “sexually fluid.” She has also confessed to having bipolar disorder.