Bebe Rexha: Man charged with throwing phone at star 'thought it would be funny'

Bebe Rexha is due back on stage on Tuesday

A man charged with assaulting pop star Bebe Rexha by throwing his phone at her during a concert told police he thought "it would be funny", prosecutors say.

The incident happened on Sunday night, as Rexha played New York's Pier 17.

After being struck on the head, the singer collapsed to the floor and was later taken to hospital, where she received stitches above her left eye.

A preliminary investigation by New York City Police said the man "intentionally threw" his phone as the show ended.

The alleged assailant has been named as 27-year-old Nicolas Malvagna of New Jersey.

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He was charged on Monday with two counts of assault in the third degree, one count of harassment in the second degree, one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree, and one count of attempted assault in the third degree.

According to the the Manhattan District Attorney's office, Mr Malvagna confessed to throwing the phone and told a police officer at the scene: "I was trying to see if I could hit her with the phone at the end of the show because it would be funny."

He is due back in court on 1 July.

The star showed her cut and bruised eye on an Instagram post

Rexha shared photos of her injuries on Instagram on Monday. They showed bruising around her left eye and a cut on her eyebrow.

However, she captioned the pictures "I'm good", and gave the camera a thumbs-up.

Famous fans including Winnie Harlow, Nelly, Demi Lovato, Leona Lewis and Lauren Jauregui were among the people who sent the star messages of support in the comments.

"Love you girly," wrote Lovato. "So sorry this happened to you."

"No one should ever throw a heavy object like that at an artist," wrote DJ Hector Fonesca. "That person needs to be banned from all concerts."

Rexha, whose real name is Bleta Rexha, is best known for high-energy pop hits like I'm Good (Blue) with David Guetta, and Heart Wants What It Wants.

She had also written hits for artists including Eminem, Rihanna and Selena Gomez.

The 33-year-old is due to perform on Tuesday at The Fillmore in Philadelphia, and will bring her tour to the UK in July.