Shutterstock photographer Chelsea Lauren was shooting KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas concert in Morningside Park, California, on Saturday night when Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Homme suddenly kicked her in the head from the stage. As Lauren told Variety, “I saw him coming over and I was shooting away. 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.†In a video posted to the photographer’s Instagram, which you can see below, Homme can be seen nonchalantly booting Lauren’s camera as he walks by. After shooting two more acts, Lauren reportedly sought medical treatment at L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
In an apology posted to the Queens of the Stone Age Twitter account Sunday evening, Homme says he had kicked over “various lighting and equipment†during the band’s set. It wasn’t until Sunday, however, that news of Lauren’s injury allegedly reached him and he realized what he had done. “I would never intentionally cause harm to anyone working at or attending one of our shows and I hope Chelsea will accept my sincere apology,†Homme says in part. Prior to his apology, Lauren told Variety that she plans to file a police report about the incident. “I feel like if I don’t do anything, he gets to kick people in the face and not get in trouble because he’s a musician,†she explained. “That’s not right.â€