Eagles Of Death Metal vocalist and guitarist Jesse Hughes says he’s truly sorry for the comments he made about those taking part in anti-gun protests.
Following last month’s student-led anti-gun demonstrations – which came after 17 people were killed in the mass shooting at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida – Hughes uploaded a series of Instagram posts slamming those calling for tighter gun control laws in the US and called them “pathetic and disgusting.”
He’s now posted a video saying he didn’t intend his remarks to be “a mean-spirited, personal attack” and has apologised.
Hughes says: “Recently I made some posts on Instagram that did not communicate how I feel about a variety of topics. What I had intended to be a statement about the hijacking by any side of the aisle of the beautiful agenda of a movement our nation’s youth came off seeming like a mean-spirited, personal attack and slight of the youth themselves and even a personal attack of its leadership.
“I want to be clear – I never intended for that to happen. I was not attempting to impugn the youth of America and this beautiful thing they’ve accomplished. I truly am sorry. I did not mean to hurt anyone or cause any harm.
“As someone who’s watched their friends shot in front of their eyes and seen people killed that they love, I should have handled this a lot more maturely and responsibly, and I did not do that and I messed up.
“I hope that you’re able to forgive me, but please know that I did not mean to do what it seems like it was I was doing.”
Hughes, who was onstage with his band at the Bataclan in Paris in November 2015 when terrorists burst in and killed 90 people, previously reported that he supported universal gun access.
He has since deleted his previous Instagram posts.
