The man who left Bebe Rexha needing three stitches on her face has come up with an eyebrow-raising excuse for his behaviour. The pop star had to be rushed offstage during a concert on Sunday night after Nicholas Malvagna, 27, hurled his phone straight at her. Rexha, who was performing in New York for her ‘Best F'n Night of My Life’ tour, was filmed dropping to her knees in agony as the device struck her in the eye. But Malvagna insists he hadn’t intended to hurt the singer-songwriter and that he’d merely been trying to make his mark as part of a viral trend. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “It’s a TikTok trend where you throw your phone onto the stage, and a celebrity passes it and takes a selfie,'” the 27-year-old told arresting officers, according to Manhattan prosecutor Stephan Millan. “‘I thought she was looking in my direction,” he added. “I was about two rows back, but instead of my phone landing right next to her, my phone hit her in the face.” His lawyer, Todd Spodek, reiterated the claim in a statement, saying: “As a fan, Mr. Malvagna’s sole intention was to have Ms. Rexha take photos with his phone and return it as a keepsake. It was never his intention to injure Ms. Rehxa.” However, this justification runs contrary to a criminal complaint that was filed at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. It claims that when Malvagna was asked by officers at the scene who had thrown the phone, he replied: "I did. I was trying to see if I could hit her with the phone at the end of the show because it would be funny". Suffice it to say, fellow fans failed to see the “funny” side, and Rexha ended up in stitches of a very different kind. The 33-year-old ‘I’m Good (Blue)’ singer, reassured her 11 million Instagram followers that she was, indeed, all good in the wake of the incident, despite being left black and blue. She posted two photos in the wake of the incident, showing her left eye looking purple and swollen, and a cut running across her eyebrow, as she smiled stoically through the pain. Malvagna, who is from New Jersey, is facing two counts of assault, one count of harassment, one count of aggravated harassment, and one count of attempted assault. He was freed without bail on Tuesday ahead of a 31 July court date and has been banned from making any contact with Rexha. Prosecutor Millan told Judge Valentina Morales: “Although the parties appear to be strangers, the defendant’s actions are serious. “The defendant was attending the victim’s concert. He decided it would be funny to throw his phone at her while she was performing. The phone struck her in the face which caused her swelling, redness and a laceration to her face. “For these reasons, we believe a full and temporary order of protection at this time.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Australian miner Lynas Rare Earths says it will temporarily shut down most of its operations in Malaysia for upgrades while dealing with a legal battle with the Malaysian government over its operating license

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Angus Cloud completed three final movies before he died suddenly at the age of 25 this week.

A man has admitted to lying about terminal cancer to raise money to enter a poker tournament. The Las Vegas World Series of Poker tournament is said to cost around $10,000, with the highest buy-in event at a staggering $250,000 for the Super High Roller. Rob Mercer from California was so desperate to take part that he set up a GoFundMe page for his fake "stage 4 colon cancer". In total, he swindled people out of thousands, which he later admitted it to the Las Vegas Review Journal. "I did lie about having colon cancer. I don’t have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation," he said. "What I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have told people I have colon cancer. I did that just as a spur-of-the-moment thing when someone asked me what kind of cancer I had." He continued: "I’m sorry for not being honest about what my situation was. If I would have done that from day one, who knows what would have happened." A spokesperson for the crowdfunding website told the outlet that donators will be getting full refunds. "GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and takes swift action against those who exploit the generosity of our community," they said. "We have removed this fundraiser for violating our terms of service, all donors have been fully refunded, and Rob Mercer has been banned from using the platform for any future fundraisers. Additionally, GoFundMe cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those formally accused of wrongdoing." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Mars once gushed with water. The Red Planet, long ago callously stripped of its insulating

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Golfing legend Rory McIlroy has admitted that he would 'love' to invest in Manchester United as their takeover saga nears an end, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe in line to purchase a 25% stake in the club.

Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle United sent scouts to watch Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in Georgia's defeat to Spain in Euro 2024 qualifying on Sunday night.

The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday said it plans to resume advertising on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, following a spat with owner Elon Musk.

Wells Fargo and a slew of other Wall Street firms admitted Tuesday to using WhatsApp, Signal and other messaging platforms for "off-channel" communications in violation of federal recordkeeping requirements.