- Martin stopped the performance when he saw a man heading straight to the stage.
- The man in question was revealed to be an Israeli social media personality.
This is the moment Coldplay frontman Chris Martin was forced to suddenly call off the band’s performance in Athens when an Israeli social media personality attempted to storm the stage.
The band were performing in the Greek capital on the European leg of their ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour when Martin spotted the audience member, draped in an Israeli flag, heading straight to the set.
Dramatic footage captured the moment Martin, 47, shushed the band and began shouting “stop, stop, stop!” at the approaching man, who fell while trying to climb a lighting system near the edge of the stage.
Martin and guitarist Johnny Buckland were seen running to the edge of the set where they watched the individual desperate to get on stage as crew members and security flooded the scene.
It later emerged that the man in question was comedian Guy Hochman, who shared clips of himself brandishing his country’s flag into the crowd before making his ill-fated attempt that ultimately ended with a broken rib.
Hochman, 35, was recently convicted of making jokes about the killing of Palestinians amid the war between Israel and Hamas and has been criticized for filming sketches on the subject, in one of which he took a “tour” of a hotel. damaged in Gaza while on patrol with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Su revealed on social media that her failed attempt to get on stage was part of a protest in which she planned to wrap Martin in her nation’s colors.
The band has routinely condemned the prevalence of genocide in various speeches and interviews, which many consider a commentary on the horrors unfolding in Gaza.
Martin sees Hochman trying to scale the lighting platform at the foot of the stage.
Martin and guitarist Johnny Buckland were seen running to the edge of the set where they watched the individual desperate to get on stage as crew members and security flooded the scene.
Pictured is Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin. The band has routinely condemned the prevalence of genocide in various speeches and interviews, which many consider a commentary on the horrors unfolding in Gaza.
Writing on social media after the incident, Hochman explained that he did not know any Coldplay songs, but attended the concert with other Israelis and had orchestrated a way to get on stage in a move he dubbed ‘Operation Athens’.
He also said he sang ‘Bring Them Home,’ referring to the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, between songs, and compared his negotiating obstacles between the crowd and the stage to enduring a Nazi concentration camp.
‘Yesterday we were at a Coldplay concert in Athens, we don’t know one of their songs… We wait for the silence between the songs and then all the bugs will sing Bring Dem Home!’
Referring to himself, he continued: “The smile director embarks on the mission of his life: to conquer the stage and wrap the singer in the Israeli flag.”
Recounting his failed attempt as a sports commentator, he wrote: ‘He’s over the fence and looking good. Coming up to stage one, looking good. Another fence, in addition to some obstacles, is a stage or Auschwitz.
‘And here’s the final step, I’ll be there soon, smelling Chris Martin’s sweat. Here it comes, here I am making history. BOOM! I have fallen. The right rib is missing.
Hochman sparked widespread controversy earlier this year when he entered Gaza with a unit of IDF troops and referred to the location as “southern Israel.”
In a sketch titled “Gaza Tourism Blogger: Point of View,” Hochman jokingly showed viewers a badly damaged hotel that he presented as the ‘Hotel Gush Katif’ in reference to a block of Jewish settlements in Gaza that were evacuated in 2005.
He was criticized for supporting the resettlement of Israelis in Palestinian territory and for mocking the devastating effects of the war.
