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Kelsea Ballerini Hit in the Eye with Bracelet While Performing Concert

May 16, 2024

The country singer left the stage but returned shortly after to finish her performance

Kelsea Ballerini was struck in the eye with a bracelet while performing onstage in Idaho.

The singer, 29, was singing her song "If You Go Down (I'm Goin' Down Too)" at Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise, Idaho, on Wednesday evening, when she was hit by an object lobbed from the crowd.

In a video of the incident, Ballerini immediately turns away from the crowd and has a short conversation with her fiddle player before leaving the stage. After taking a short break, she returns and addresses the crowd, saying, "Can we just talk about what happened?"

“All I care about is keeping everyone safe. If you ever don’t feel safe, please let someone around you know. If anyone’s pushing too much or you just have that gut feeling, just always flag it,” the star continued.

Hubert Vestil/WireImage

Ballerini — who is on the third leg of her headlining Heartfirst tour — added, “Don’t throw things. You know?”

The country singer posted to her Instagram Story on Thursday morning, writing, "Hi. I'm fine. Someone threw a bracelet, it hit me in the eye, and it more so just scared me than hurt me. We all have triggers and layers of fears way deeper than what is shown, and that's why I walked offstage to calm down and make sure myself, band and crew and the crowd all felt safe to continue."

@hellvndbvck / POP NATION /TMX / MEGA

Ballerini, who watched a friend die in a school shooting, has previously spoken about the PTSD she suffers from the experience and how it can affect her shows.

"I have a job where I'm in crowds often, I play loud music, there's pyro, and there are noises that are similar. But everyone close to me knows about it, and they help me just get ready for moments like that," she told PEOPLE in 2021. "And if I'm having some kind of trigger... If I need to push a show 10 minutes, I push a show 10 minutes. Everyone's very understanding of that and very protective of that trauma, and that memory for me."

Kelsea Ballerini/ Instagram

The incident involving Ballerini comes after Bebe Rexha was struck in the face and injured by a cell phone while performing in New York City earlier this month.

The “I'm Good (Blue)” singer, 33, was knocked to the ground during a show at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in lower Manhattan on June 18. The phone hit Rexha on the forehead in the middle of a song, splitting her eyebrow and requiring stitches.

Rexha was escorted off the stage and treated by a medical team at the venue, as seen in footage fans shared on Twitter.

Nicolas Malvagna, 27, of Manalapan, New Jersey, is accused of throwing the phone. He was arrested at the venue, and charged with assault for using his cell phone as a weapon, the NYPD confirmed to PEOPLE.

Police confirmed Rexha was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition. The pop star posted on her Instagram the following Monday morning to show fans she was okay, sharing a selfie of her stitches and a burgeoning black eye. "I'm good," she wrote in a nod to both her health and her latest hit.

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In another incident, Ava Max was slapped by a concertgoer mid-performance during the Los Angeles stop of her current tour at the Fonda Theatre.

Max, 29, was singing her hit "The Motto" when an attendee stormed the stage, according to fan-recorded videos shared on social media.

Security attempted to hold him back, but he reached out his arm and struck the performer across her face. She then continued dancing and said goodbye to the crowd before exiting the stage.

Max later took to Twitter after the show and detailed the injury, noting that the assailant is banned from her future shows.

"He slapped me so hard that he scratched the inside of my eye. He’s never coming to a show again," she wrote. "Thank you to the fans for being spectacular tonight in LA though!!"

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