Fresno Beehive

Fresno Beehive

‘I don’t have any excuse.’ QOTSA frontman Josh Homme apologizes for kicking photographer

By Joshua Tehee

Josh Homme looked close to tears as he apologized for kicking a photographer from the stage during a concert last weekend with his band Queens of the Stone Age.

The band is scheduled to perform at Fresno’s Selland Arena next month.

It was a much different look from the photos posted on photographer Chelsea Lauren’s Instagram page, showing the guitarist/singer moments before he kicked her camera and sent it smashing into her face. Video of the performance (and the incident) was shared widely online and shows Homme swinging his leg and connecting with a camera, according to The Associated Press.

 

Thank you everyone that has reached out with supportive messages. A small update, as I'm being flooded with questions: My neck is a sore, my eyebrow bruised and I'm a bit nauseous. The doctor released me early in the morning. Here are three images. Two of them as Josh looked at me, smiled and then kicked me. The other one is later after he cut his own face with a knife. I was in the pit in tears - and he just stared at me smiling. Assault in any form is not okay, no matter what the reasoning. Alcohol and drugs are no excuse. I was where I was allowed to be, I was not breaking any rules. I was simply trying to do my job. I hold nobody accountable for this but Josh himself. KROQ has nothing to do with this and I will always support them. The irony is someone had thrown an ice cube on to the very slick catwalk before the QOTSA set. I was afraid that one of the band members might slip and hurt themselves so, when the lights went dark, I used my arm to wipe down the runway so nobody would hurt themselves. Thank you to @variety for their immediate concern and care with this matter. As of now, nobody from QOTSA has reached out to me. #queensofthestoneage #QOTSA #JoshHomme

A post shared by Chelsea Lauren (@chelsealaurenla) on

Lauren said she sought medical treatment and spend the night in an emergency room.

In a statement, Homme first claimed the kick was unintentional. He was “in a state of being lost in performance” and thought he was kicking at lighting equipment.

But in a video posted to social media Sunday, the singer/guitarist seemed to take active responsibility for the incident, saying he was “a total dick.”

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life and last night was definitely one of them,” he said. He said he wants to be a good man, but in this instance he failed.

That failure will likely have consequences. Many fans are expressing outrage toward the singer and Lauren said she intends to file a police report, according to Variety.

There is no word on how that might affect the band’s upcoming tour – and the Jan. 29 date in Fresno.

“I’m going to have to figure out some stuff, I think,” Homme said in the video.

“Rock and rock is a wonderful thing. It’s supposed to save and help people, not mess them up.”

Joshua Tehee: 559-441-6479, @joshuatehee

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 10:54 AM with the headline "‘I don’t have any excuse.’ QOTSA frontman Josh Homme apologizes for kicking photographer."

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