Rapper Slammed for Forcing Teen Fan to Stage Dive, Hospitalizing Him
A young fan of rapper Destroy Lonely was injured last week after the American artist seemingly persuaded him to jump off of a stage during a Romanian music festival. The 15-year-old boy, Nicolas, was hospitalized in the intensive care unit after suffering a pulmonary contusion and lesions on his liver and kidney.
A video taken by a fan from the Beach, Please music festival in Costinesti, Romania, shows the boy dancing on stage with Destroy Lonely before the rapper tells him, "I need you to jump right back in there with your friends! You ready?"
After a brief countdown, Destroy Lonely grabs Nicolas's shoulder and pushes him to the edge of the tall stage, towering over a security guard seen below. The boy proceeds to jump off at a high velocity, falling around 10 feet and landing with his chest hitting the top of the barricade.
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"When I fell, I thought I was dying," Nicholas told Romanian news outlet Observator. "I had no more air, I ran out of air. I thought if I didn’t get help here, these would be my last moments.”
Another graphic video from the concert shows the 15-year-old's expression of pain and shock as he makes impact and falls off of the metal barrier meant to keep fans away from the stage. Destroy Lonely's set continued as planned as Nicholas underwent immediate medical attention.
Nicholas's mother, who attended the concert with him, reportedly plans to file a complaint against the rapper. She also reports that her son has wounds on his legs and shoulder pain.
Co-founder of Beach, Please Andrei şelaru also blamed the incident solely on Destroy Lonely, telling Romanian newspaper Adevarul that the festival will not book him in the future. "We believe that the incident was caused by an irresponsible attitude of the artist who invited him on stage and urged him to jump," she said. She also announced that fans will no longer be allowed on stage during future Beach, Please festivals.