Chris Martin briefly halted a Coldplay concert in Greece after a man wrapped in an Israeli flag attempted to climb onto the stage but ended up falling and knocking down lighting equipment.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop,” Martin told his bandmates at Athens' Olympic Stadium as the man, later identified as controversial Israeli comedian Guy Hochman, fell after entering a wired area.
Hochman said on Instagram that he suffered a rib injury on his right side from the fall.
The incident occurred on Sunday, midway through Coldplay's performance of “Biutyful,” which they performed alongside a puppet singer named Angel Moon, who was created for the band by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
Angel Moon hit her high note on “Biutyful” just before the music cut out, as seen in footage from the event. Martin and guitarist Jonny Buckland ran to the edge of the stage, looking toward where Hochman had fallen. At one point, Martin extended his hand to Hochman.
The band had no additional comment Friday, their representatives told The Times.
Coldplay will continue their Music of the Spheres world tour throughout the fall. Her next single, “itfeelslikeimfallinginlove,” drops June 21.
Hochman took responsibility for the failed stunt in an Instagram post, writing in Hebrew, which was translated using an online tool, that he didn't know any of Coldplay's songs but was there to execute a plan.
In one part, Hochman described the steps he took to almost reach the stage. However, he said he fell and hurt himself.
Hochman's plan was also to sing “Bring Them Home,” in reference to the hostages held by Hamas amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
In December, Hochman came under fire for making racist jokes about Palestinians who have died in the war.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages, prompting Israel to retaliate in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Health Ministry, an arm of the Hamas-led government in the strip, says 36,000 Palestinians have died so far, many of them women and children. Gaza's entire population is experiencing food insecurity, with about half facing catastrophic hunger and the risk of famine, international health officials say.
