Singer Bebe Rexha says she's OK after phone hits her in the face while on stage

The pop star was injured by a device hurled by a man in the audience during a show in New York

Bebe Rexha was performing at a show in New York when the incident occurred. AFP

Pop star Bebe Rexha was hit in the face and injured by a mobile phone hurled from the audience at a show in New York on Sunday night, and a man was arrested, police said.

The Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter was taken to a hospital after the phone hit her.

A bruise and a bandage were visible above her left eye in social media posts she made Monday.

“I'm good, yeah, I'm feelin' all right,” she sang in a TikTok video, taking a line from I'm Good (Blue), her recent hit with DJ David Guetta.

Rexha, 33, was on stage at Pier 17, a rooftop venue in Manhattan, when the phone was thrown, police said.

Video posted on social media showed the device ricocheting off the artist's head, and then Rexha grabbing her face and sinking to her knees.

Nicolas Malvagna, 27, from New Jersey, was released without bail after being arraigned Monday on charges including assault and aggravated harassment. Each is either a misdemeanour or an offence punishable by fines.

According to a court complaint, Malvagna told a third party he tried to hit Rexha with the phone at the end of the show because he thought “it would be funny”.

A message seeking comment was sent to his lawyer.

A three-time Grammy nominee, Rexha is known for such hits as I’m Good (Blue), Meant to Be featuring country band Florida Georgia Line and I Got You. Raised in New York, she was a songwriter for other artists before becoming a solo star.

“What I'm learning is that not everybody is going to connect with you and understand you, and that's OK,” she said in April, shortly before the release of her latest album, Bebe.

“And I feel like you have to just be your realest, truest version of yourself because, at the end of the day, if you try to change yourself to be liked by other people, you’re not really being yourself.”

She is scheduled to perform in Philadelphia on Tuesday.