Rocker Josh Homme Apologizes For Kicking Photographer: 'I Was A Total Dick'

Queens of the Stone Age frontman's kick sent a photographer to the ER.
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Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age has apologized for kicking a photographer and sending her to the hospital on Saturday night.

“Thanks to joshhomme I now get to spend my night in the ER,” Chelsea Lauren, a photographer for Shutterstock who was covering the band’s performance in the L.A. area, wrote on Twitter. “Seriously, WHO DOES THAT?!?”

Lauren also wrote on Instagram that she was suffering from a bruised eyebrow, sore neck and nausea.

“I was where I was allowed to be, I was not breaking any rules. I was simply trying to do my job,” she wrote.

Lauren was covering the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas concert in Inglewood and told Variety she was “pretty excited” when Homme walked toward her as she had never photographed his band before.

“The next thing I know his foot connects with my camera and my camera connects with my face, really hard,” she said, adding:

“He looked straight at me, swung his leg back pretty hard and full-blown kicked me in the face. He continued performing. I was startled, I kind of stopped looking at him. I just got down and was holding my face because it hurt so badly.”

Lauren went to the press room, then returned to the area in front of the stage to continue photographing the event before seeking treatment for her injuries. She told Variety she was planning to file a police report.

Homme initially released a written statement saying he was “in a state of being lost in performance,” kicking equipment on stage and didn’t notice he had hit the photographer. However, Homme’s “sincere apology” was roundly panned on social media. Chef Anthony Bourdain, who is friends with Homme, wrote:

Homme released a video statement late Sunday apologizing again:

“I’d just like to apologize to Chelsea Lauren. I don’t have any excuse or reason to justify what I did. I was a total dick, and I’m truly sorry, and I hope you’re okay. I made a lot of mistakes in my life and last night was definitely one of them and I apologize for that to you. I want to be a good man but I think last night I definitely failed that.”

Homme apologized to his family, the rest of the band and his friends as well, and said he will “have to figure out some stuff.”

Lauren received support on social media from other musicians as well as fans of the band.

Lauren also wrote on Instagram that before Homme took the stage, she actually tried to help prevent a possible injury to the band.

“The irony is someone had thrown an ice cube on to the very slick catwalk before the QOTSA set,” she wrote. “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.”

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