Queens of the Stone Age frontman 'truly sorry' for kicking photographer

By Ben Westcott, CNN

Updated 9:41 AM EST, Tue December 12, 2017

(CNN) Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Josh Homme has apologized after kicking a female photographer's camera during a concert, leaving her bruised and in tears.

Celebrity photographer Chelsea Lauren posted a video to her Instagram account showing Homme kicking her camera into her face mid-song at a performance in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

"Thanks to @joshhomme I now get to spend my night in the (emergency room). Seriously, WHO DOES THAT?!?" Lauren said in her post.

It's unclear from the video whether or not the kick was deliberately aimed at Lauren, but in a video apology Homme admitted he had been "a total dick."

Thanks to @joshhomme @queensofthestoneage I now get to spend my night in the ER. Seriously, WHO DOES THAT?!? #joshhomme #queensofthestoneage #qotsa #qotsafamily #concertphotography #musicphotographer

"I don't have any excuse or reason to justify what I did ... I'm truly sorry and I hope you're okay," he said in a video posted to various Queens of the Stone Age social media accounts.

"I've 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 at that."

Homme also apologized to his bandmates and his family in the video, including his mother, father and his children. "I'm going to have to figure some stuff out I think," he said.

In an earlier post to the official Queens of the Stone Age Twitter account Sunday, Homme said he had kicked Lauren's camera while "being lost in the performance."

"I kicked over various lighting and equipment on our stage. Today it was brought to my attention that this included a camera held by photographer Chelsea Lauren. I did not mean for that to happen and I am very sorry," he said in the statement.

Lauren had maintained the kick wasn't an accident, adding "assault in any form is not okay."

"I was where I was allowed to be, I was not breaking any rules. I was simply trying to do my job," she said in a lengthy Instagram post.

She said she had been released from hospital with a bruised eyebrow and a sore neck.

"I hold nobody accountable for this but Josh himself," she said.

Thank you everyone that has reached out with supportive messages. A small update, as I'm being flooded with questions: My neck is a sore, my eyebrow bruised and I'm a bit nauseous. The doctor released me early in the morning. Here are three images. Two of them as Josh looked at me, smiled and then kicked me. The other one is later after he cut his own face with a knife. I was in the pit in tears - and he just stared at me smiling. Assault in any form is not okay, no matter what the reasoning. Alcohol and drugs are no excuse. I was where I was allowed to be, I was not breaking any rules. I was simply trying to do my job. I hold nobody accountable for this but Josh himself. KROQ has nothing to do with this and I will always support them. The irony is someone had thrown an ice cube on to the very slick catwalk before the QOTSA set. 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. Thank you to @variety for their immediate concern and care with this matter. As of now, nobody from QOTSA has reached out to me. #queensofthestoneage #QOTSA #JoshHomme

In an interview with Variety, Lauren said she would be filing a police report.

Homme has been accused of assault in the past, including by autograph collector Jason Leckrone who claims the musician grabbed him around the shoulders and neck after a concert in April 2016.

Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that Homme kicked the photographer's camera.

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