Josh Homme Says He's Not A Homophobe

Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme insists he's not a homophobe after he called a shoe-throwing concert-goer a "faggot" during a show in Oslo, Norway last weekend.

Queens Of The Stone Age were playing a set at the Norwegian Wood festival when a spectator threw his shoe at Homme in the middle of "3's & 7's." The shoe hit Homme in the face, but he kept his composure and finished the song. But he let loose on the guy who he thought did it afterward.

"If you throw something at me, I'm not so sick that I can't go down there and beat the fucking shit out of you, you know what I'm saying?" he yelled, before singling the shoe-thrower out. "Turn around, you fucking pussy with the black hair! Turn the fuck around, you chicken shit fucking faggot! Hey, you! You, you fucking pussy motherfucker. I will fuck you up! Come on up here! Come on up here, you fucking faggot!"

After Homme finished his rant, the shoe-thrower was ejected from the show (with a smile on his face) by security. A video of the incident started circulating on YouTube this week, which led to suggestions on the internet that Homme was homophobic because of his use of an anti-gay slur. In response, Homme wrote a message to the media and others in which he insisted he wasn't.

"My gay family & friends, as well as myself, KNOW I am not a homophobe," Homme wrote. "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. I never said, nor suggested, that being gay is wrong, but apparently, based on your outrage to my flu-infused rant, you do!"

He went on to say he had suggested having anal sex with the shoe-thrower, and didn't understand how that meant he was homophobic. He also referenced his band name and then suggested anyone implying that he's homophobic should "let both of your cheeks go loose so the stick will drop out."

"I never have been nor intend to be politically correct," wrote Homme. "That's your cross to bear. To me, that PC world would suck more shit than the porta-potty truck at Glastonbury. Homophobic? I'm in Queens Of The Stone Age for crissake…"

Homme wouldn't be the first singer to be criticized for on-stage use of the F-bomb in response to crowd members' actions. Last November, St. Catharines, Ont. band Casey Baker & The Buffalo Sinners were removed from the stage at a show at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. when frontman Casey Baker called the crowd "a bunch of faggoty faggots" after an audience member mooned him.

Here's the video of Homme lashing out at the shoe-thrower (the shoe-toss is about a minute-and-a-half in):