Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes and The Offspring guitarist Noodles have defended The Dickies‘ frontman Leonard Grave Phillips after he made a number of misogynist comments towards a female crew member on The Vans Warped tour.
Phillips was on the tour in the US and a crew member took offence to a number of the jokes he was making during the band’s set, according to Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman.
As CoS report, during his last show on the tour, the crew member stood near the PA with a sign protesting some of the things he had said. He then called the woman a, “cunt,” and that he’d, “fucked farm animals that were prettier than you.”
He further convinced the audience to chant, “blow me,” before she threw the sign at him.
He’s since addressed the situation by saying he should’ve called her an, “asshole” instead of a, “cunt” but he’s hardly apologised.
Hughes, however, believes he had no need to apologise.
“Long live freedom of speech and long live the notion that rock ‘n’ roll is about saying whatever the fuck you want,” Hughes wrote on Instagram.
“Especially if it’s offensive to people Who are weak cowardly and can’t stand for anyone else to be free.”
He further challenged the idea of there being a “safe space” at gigs saying, “a safe zone is a place that exists in your home not at the place you voluntarily drive to and walk into and sit in an audience of that exists in a public place.”
Offspring’s Noodles added his thoughts too on Instagram writing, “I honestly don’t see how anyone could seriously take offence from anything they do or say.”
He also addressed the notion of a “safe space”, saying, “It takes some real guts (or is it idiocy?) to demand a “safe space” where nobody really wants or expects one to be.”
Phillips was forced to apologise when the band were in Australia in 2015 because he hit a female fan in Brisbane.
At the time he called his actions, “indefensible”.
You can see footage of his comments at the Vans Warped Tour below and decide for yourself whether or not he was being a misogynist. To be honest, it’s pretty hard to deny it.
https://twitter.com/thechubbywubby/status/879268993034584064