Queens of the Stone Age frontman says he kicked photographer because he was 'lost' in his performance

Josh Homme.
(Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme apologized on Sunday for kicking a concert photographer in the face during a concert Saturday night, saying he was "in a state of being lost in performance" when it happened.

The band played the first night of L.A. radio station KROQ's annual Almost Acoustic Christmas concert, in front of a sold-out crowd. Chelsea Lauren told Variety she was taking photos in the pit when Homme came by, smiling. "The next thing I know his foot connects with my camera and my camera connects with my face, really hard," she said. "He looked straight at me, swung his leg back pretty hard, and full-blown kicked me in the face." She said it was "obviously very intentional" and when she went to the hospital for treatment, she was encouraged to press charges by people who looked at video shot of the incident.

In a statement, Homme said he knew he kicked over "various lighting and equipment" on stage, but didn't know until Sunday that "this included a camera held by photographer Chelsea Lauren. I did not mean for that to happen and I am very sorry." Lauren said that after he kicked her, Homme took out a knife and cut his forehead, and blood dripped down his face the rest of the night. He also called the audience "retards," Variety reports, told them to take off their pants, and insulted the next band to come on stage, Muse.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.