The thin line between ‘fans’ and ‘fanatics’

I’m trying to understand why someone buys a ticket, goes to a concert, and intentionally chucks a blunt object at a performer.

But there’s no sense to be made of what happened Sunday during singer Bebe Rexha’s show in New York when an audience member threw a cellphone that struck her in the head. Rexha immediately put her hands to her face and crumpled to the floor, abruptly ending her show. The next day she posted photos of her swollen, discolored left eye and a cut on her eyelid on Instagram with the caption, “[I’m] good.”

Police arrested Nicolas Malvagna, 27, of New Jersey, on assault and aggravated harassment charges. According to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Malvagna allegedly said he tried to hit Rexha with the phone “because it would be funny.”

The suspect’s reported idea of fun could have cost Rexha her eye. What would possess someone to do something so stupid is beyond comprehension, but equally disturbing is what Rexha endured isn’t uncommon — and it just seems to be getting worse.

Fans have always brought presents for their musical idols or tossed items toward the stage. Since his days with The Smiths, Morrissey’s shows have been festooned with gladiolus. Women used to toss underwear at sexy beasts like Tom Jones and the late, great Teddy Pendergrass. Years ago I attended a Patti LaBelle concert where various admirers offered the legendary singer flowers, a white feather boa, a royal blue evening dress, even a pair of gold stilettos. Fortunately none of those items were hurled like grenades at Ms. Patti.

But there’s long been a dark undercurrent to this ritual, and performers are finding themselves dodging — if reflexes prevail — all kinds of projectiles.

Harry Styles, who could open an exhibit of all the things he’s been pelted with, was hit in the eye with Skittles candy during a Los Angeles show in November. Four songs into his performance at the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami last summer, Kid Cudi cut his set short after the audience wouldn’t stop throwing water bottles, including one that clocked him in the face. Lady Gaga took what appeared to be a stuffed animal to the head during her tour stop in Toronto.

Whatever is driving it — over-enthusiasm after two years without live concerts or a need for some concertgoers to create their own viral moment — it needs to stop before someone is seriously injured. In its most transcendent moments, the covenant between performers and fans is sacred. But at no point should that interaction become scary for artists who don’t need any reminders that the word “fan” is derived from the far more nefarious “fanatic.”

Renée Graham is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at renee.graham@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @reneeygraham.