Florence Pugh struck in face by hurled object while in Brazil promoting ‘Dune’ sequel
It seems that rowdy fans aren’t hurling objects at just musicians anymore. The unruly behavior has made its way to the movie world — more specifically, to Oscar nominee Florence Pugh‘s face.
Pugh, known for “Midsommar” and “Little Women,” joined co-stars Zendaya, Austin Butler and Timothée Chalamet to promote “Dune: Part 2” at the Brazil fan event CCXP over the weekend. CCXP ran from Thursday to Sunday and was held at São Paulo Expo.
During a panel for the forthcoming movie, the “Black Widow” actor, her co-stars and director Denis Villeneuve posed for a group photo. As the “Dune” team held their poses, an audience member seemingly hurled an object that resembled a pen at the stage, hitting the 27-year-old “Don’t Worry Darling” star in her right eye, a video circulating on X shows. After the impact, Pugh flinched, touched her right eye and bent down to examine the object.
Warner Bros. confirms that ‘Dune: Part Two,’ starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Austin Butler, is delayed to 2024. It was set to release in November.
Neither representatives for Pugh nor CCXP immediately responded to The Times’ request for comment on Monday.
In recent months, several musicians have spoken out against fans throwing objects on stage. Just last month both R&B singer Ari Lennox and Taylor Swift told their respective fans to hold back. “It really freaks me out when stuff gets thrown on the stage,” Swift told her crowd during a Buenos Aires concert on her Eras tour.
This year alone, musicians Harry Styles, Bebe Rexha, Pink, Ava Max, Drake and Kelsea Ballerini have been subject to similar fan behavior.
In June, “I’m Good” singer Rexha received stitches above her left eyebrow after a fan hurled his phone at the singer during a concert in New York. Concertgoer and New Jersey resident Nicolas Malvagna, who was arrested, allegedly said he chucked his device at the stage for entertainment, according to a criminal complaint.
On Wednesday, Drake became the latest artist to get hit by an object hurled by a fan at a concert. Should we blame the pandemic? Social media? Lazy bouncers?
“I was trying to see if I could hit her with the phone at the end of the show because it would be funny,” Malvagna allegedly said.
Pugh’s CCXP appearance was one of her first to promote the release of “Dune: Part 2,” which has been delayed to March 1, 2024. The highly anticipated sci-fi epic was initially set to premiere on Nov. 3, but was shelved for a later release amid the writers’ and actors’ strikes — which ended Sept. 27 and Nov. 9, respectively.
“Dune: Part 2” follows Chalamet’s Paul Atreides as he learns the way of the desert-dwelling Fremen to defeat the greedy Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård). Pugh, fresh off her “Oppenheimer” role, stars as Princess Irulan.
Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem and Léa Seydoux also star in “Dune: Part 2.”
Times staff writer Carlos De Loera contributed to this report.
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