Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme is facing a public outcry for kicking a photographer in the head during the band’s set at a Saturday night Christmas concert in Inglewood, California.
The victim of Homme’s attack was Chelsea Lauren, a Shutterstock photographer, who was down in front shooting the KROQ Acoustic Christmas show. “I saw him coming over and I was shooting away,” she told Variety. “The next thing I know his foot connects with my camera and my camera connects with my face, really hard. He looked straight at me, swung his leg back pretty hard and full-blown kicked me in the face… It was obviously very intentional.” Lauren, who went to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for treatment of her injuries, shared this video of the attack:
The show’s other highlights included Homme cutting himself in the head with a knife and calling the audience “retards.” Happy holidays!
Homme later issued an apology, via the band’s Twitter account, in which he explained he was “in a state of being lost in performance,” and that he accidentally kicked the photographer while kicking over “various lighting and equipment on our stage,” which is totally what’s happening in the video, definitely. He has since issued a second, video apology, admitting, “I don’t have any excuse or reason to justify what I did. I was a total dick. I’m truly sorry, and I hope you’re okay.”
Lauren has indicated she will file a police report against Homme, who says in the new video, “I’m gonna have to figure out some stuff … I understand you have to do whatever you have to do.” Here’s that video: