Rapper Cardi B, the Target of a Thrown Liquid, Retaliates 

Singer Cardi B gestures as she departs the Fendi runway during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2023/2024 Fashion Week in Paris on July 6, 2023. (AFP)
Singer Cardi B gestures as she departs the Fendi runway during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2023/2024 Fashion Week in Paris on July 6, 2023. (AFP)
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Rapper Cardi B, the Target of a Thrown Liquid, Retaliates 

Singer Cardi B gestures as she departs the Fendi runway during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2023/2024 Fashion Week in Paris on July 6, 2023. (AFP)
Singer Cardi B gestures as she departs the Fendi runway during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2023/2024 Fashion Week in Paris on July 6, 2023. (AFP)

An eye for an eye, and a hurled microphone for a thrown drink.

When a concertgoer threw a liquid at Cardi B, the American rap star did not hesitate: she immediately threw her mic at the offending person, according to videos circulating Sunday on social media.

The incident, at a concert in Las Vegas, made the influential rapper just the latest performer to suffer such an attack.

Recently, pop star Bebe Rexha was struck in the head by a cell phone thrown by a New York concertgoer, and reportedly required stitches. And in London, someone threw a bag containing the ashes of her own mother at superstar Pink, according to media reports.

Cardi B, in a bright orange floor-length dress, was singing near the front of a stage in Las Vegas when someone, apparently a woman, threw the contents of a tall plastic cup in her direction.

Visibly shocked but only for a second, the New York-born rapper turned and hurled her microphone at the person while cursing her out, as members of her security team jumped into the audience.

On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, several posts warmly praised Cardi B's reaction, saying it was time that performers react aggressively to such attacks.



‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Misses Projections as Superhero Films’ Grip on Theaters Loosens

 Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)
Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)
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‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Misses Projections as Superhero Films’ Grip on Theaters Loosens

 Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)
Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)

“Venom: The Last Dance” showed less bite than expected at the box office, collecting $51 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, significantly down from the alien symbiote franchise’s previous entries.

Projections for the third “Venom” film from Sony Pictures had been closer to $65 million. More concerning, though, was the drop off from the first two “Venom” films. The 2018 original debuted with $80.2 million, while the 2021 follow-up, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” opened with $90 million even as theaters were still in recovery mode during the pandemic.

“The Last Dance,” starring Tom Hardy as a journalist who shares his body with an alien entity also voiced by Hardy, could still turn a profit for Sony. Its production budget, not accounting for promotion and marketing, was about $120 million — significantly less than most comic-book films.

But “The Last Dance” is also performing better overseas. Internationally, “Venom: The Last Dance” collected $124 million over the weekend, including $46 million over five days of release in China. That’s good enough for one of the best international weekends of the year for a Hollywood release.

Still, neither reviews (36% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) nor audience scores (a franchise-low “B-” CinemaScore) have been good for the film scripted by Kelly Marcel and Hardy, and directed by Marcel.

The low weekend for “Venom: The Last Dance” also likely ensures that superhero films will see their lowest-grossing year in a dozen years, not counting the pandemic year of 2020, according to David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment.

Following on the heels of the “Joker: Folie à Deux” flop, Gross estimates that 2024 superhero films will gross about $2.25 billion worldwide. The only upcoming entry is Marvel’s “Kraven the Hunter,” due out Dec. 13.

Even with the $1.3 billion of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” the genre hasn’t, overall, been dominating the way it once did. In 2018, for example, superhero films accounted for more than $7 billion in global ticket sales.

Last week’s top film, the Paramount Pictures horror sequel “Smile 2,” dropped to second place with $9.4 million. That brings its two-week total to $83.7 million worldwide.

The weekend’s biggest success story might have been “Conclave,” the papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes and directed by Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”). The Focus Features release, a major Oscar contender, launched with $6.5 million in 1,753 theaters.

That put “Conclave” into third place, making it the rare adult-oriented drama to make a mark theatrically. Some 77% of ticket buyers were over the age of 35, Focus said. With a strong opening and stellar reviews, “Conclave” could continue to gather momentum both with moviegoers and Oscar voters.