- Martin stopped the performance as he spotted a man beelining for 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 call a sudden stop to 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, wrapped in an Israeli flag, making a beeline for the set.
Dramatic footage captured the moment Martin, 47, hushed the band and began shouting ‘stop, stop, stop!’ at the oncoming man, who fell as he attempted to clamber over a lighting rig close to the edge of the stage.
Martin and guitarist Johnny Buckland were seen rushing to the lip of the set where they looked down at the individual desperate to make it onto the stage as crew members and security flooded the scene.
It later transpired the man in question was comedian Guy Hochman, who shared clips of himself brandishing his country’s flag in the crowd before he made his ill-fated attempt that ultimately ended in a broken rib.
Hochman, 35, was recently condemned for making jokes about the killing of Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war and has been criticised for filming skits on the subject, one of which saw him give a ‘tour’ of a damaged hotel in Gaza while on a patrol with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
His revealed on social media that his failed attempt to rush the stage was part of a protest in which he planned to wrap Martin in his nation’s colours.
The band has routinely condemned the prevalence of genocide in various speeches and interviews, seen by many as a commentary on the horrors unfolding in Gaza.
Martin spots Hochman attempting to scale the lighting rig at the foot of the stage
Martin and guitarist Johnny Buckland were seen rushing to the lip of the set where they looked down at the individual desperate to make it onto the stage as crew members and security flooded the scene
Lead singer of Coldplay Chris Martin is pictured. The band has routinely condemned the prevalence of genocide in various speeches and interviews, seen by many as a commentary on the horrors unfolding in Gaza
Writing on social media following the incident, Hochman explained how he didn’t know any Coldplay songs but attended the concert with fellow Israelis and had orchestrated a way to get on the stage in a move he dubbed ‘Operation Athens’.
He also said he chanted ‘Bring Them Home’ – in reference to the Israeli hostages still in Gaza – in between songs, and likened his negotiation of obstacles between the crowd and the stage to enduring a Nazi concentration camp.
‘We were at a Coldplay concert in Athens yesterday, don’t know one of their songs… We wait for silence between the songs and then all the critters will sing Bring Dem Home!’
Referring to himself, he continued: ‘Chief smile officer embarks on his life’s mission, conquer the stage and wrap the singer in the Israeli flag.’
Recounting his failed attempt like a sports commentator, he wrote: ‘He’s over the fence, looking good. Going on stage one, looking good. Another fence, as well as a few obstacles, this 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. Right rib gone.’
Hochman courted major controversy early this year when he entered Gaza with a unit of IDF troops and referred to the location as ‘southern Israel’.
In a skit called ‘Tourism Blogger in Gaza: POV’, Hochman jokingly showed viewers around a severely damaged hotel which he presented as the ‘Gush Katif Hotel’ in reference to a bloc of Jewish settlements in Gaza that were evacuated in 2005.
He was criticised for supporting the resettlement of Israelis in Palestinian territory, and for his mocking of the devastating effects of the war.
