Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme Denies He’s a Homophobe

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


mojo-photo-joshhomme.jpgJosh Homme has issued a statement denying he’s homophobic after an expletive-laden rant he unleashed on a concertgoer which included anti-gay slurs hit the intertubes. During a performance last week at the Norwegian Wood festival, something got thrown at the stage which hit Homme, who was reportedly already grumpy after a three-day bout with the flu. He singled out the assailant in the audience and unleashed a blistering tirade of insults that’s truly awe-inspiring in scope; unfortunately, the rant included multiple mentions of “faggot” as well as references to, er, forced homosexual activities. Close your office door and feel the power of this totally, totally not safe for work clip of Homme unleashed, after the jump:

Homme’s open letter in response to the accusations of homophobia was a little weird, starting off with the “some of my best friends are gay” line and then tying itself up in logical knots:

My gay family & friends, as well as myself, KNOW I am not a homophobe. For years now I’ve known gay is not a choice; one’s skin color doesn’t determine one’s intelligence level; & red hair doesn’t mean you’re someone’s stepchild. You see, it’s not the words, it’s their intent.

“For years now”? Like, since ’03? He went on to ask if the use of “pussy” as a pejorative implies distaste for vagina, although I’m not sure he’ll make any more friends with that argument. So, we’re back here: can you use offensive words without, uh, being offensive? I don’t have any idea, but I will say that there’s something kind of erotic about his rant; while I’ve never been interested in any sort of S&M domination/submission scene, I could see myself enjoying a verbal tongue-lashing from Mr. Homme, although as the Hottest Dude in Rock I suppose he could read me the phone book and that would be fun too. It does bring to mind the odd (and I’ve always assumed, coincidental) homoerotic subtext in some QOTSA songs: “Lost Art of Keeping a Secret” features the lines “We’ve got something to reveal/No one can know how we feel,” and 2002’s “No One Knows” also features the same secret-love theme. Not that I’m implying anything here (although he signs the “apology” letter “pan-sexual spokes-thing”), but hey, Josh, if you really want to prove you’re not a homophobe, give me a call, I’ve got some ideas.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate