Life

Rocker Homme under fire for kicking photographer

December 11, 2017
Josh Homme
Josh Homme



LOS ANGELES - Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme apologized Monday as he came under fire for kicking a photographer, who said she spent the night in the hospital.

The rock guitarist and vocalist was playing Sunday in Los Angeles at an annual holiday festival of radio station KROQ when video shows him slamming his foot into the face of a photographer in the pit next to the stage.

Chelsea Lauren, who shoots for Shutterstock, an agency that provides stock photos, said she spent the night in the emergency room and Monday was still suffering a sore neck, a bruise in the eyebrow and nausea.

"Assault in any form is not okay, no matter what the reasoning," she wrote on Instagram.

She speculated that Homme may have been impaired by drugs or alcohol. She posted another picture in which Homme smiled as blood trickled down his face after he stabbed himself in the forehead on stage.

"I was where I was allowed to be, I was not breaking any rules. I was simply trying to do my job," Lauren wrote.

Homme apologized and described the incident as an accident. He said he was a "in a state of being lost in performance" and also kicked equipment.

"I would never intentionally cause harm to anyone working at or attending one of our shows and I hope Chelsea will accept my sincere apology," he wrote on Twitter.

His explanation triggered a stream of negative reactions on social media, with some people urging that he face charges. - AP


December 11, 2017
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