NOFX Apologizes for 'Sh*tty and Insensitive' Las Vegas Shooting Jokes
By TheBlast Staff on May 31, 2018 at 1:36 AM EDT
NOFX's frontman is speaking out for the first time following the outrage over the punk band's jokes about the mass shooting in Las Vegas last year.
"I can’t sleep, no one in my band can. What we said in Vegas was shitty and insensitive and we are all embarrassed by our remarks," NOFX lead singer "Fat Mike" Burkett says.
Burkett and his bandmates will be releasing an "in-depth, since and honest apology" later on, adding, "That’s what the people we offended and hurt deserve."
Fat Mike's comments come after Sunday's incident where NOFX made a series of insensitive jokes during their set at Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival regarding the shooting that took place on October 1, mere miles from this weekend's festival venue.
"We played a song about Muslims and we didn’t get shot," Mike said. Another band member then chimed in, “I guess you only get shot in Vegas if you are in a county band" and the frontman replied, "You know, that [shooting] sucked, but at least they were country fans and not punk rock fans.”
Video of the comments quickly spread on social media and ignited backlash from both fans and sponsors.
As The Blast was the first to report, Stone Brewing, the company that manufactures the band’s beer and sponsors their music festival – both called Punk in Drublic — cut all ties with NOFX.
“We respect punk rock, and the DIY ethos for which it stands,” a Stone Brewing spokesperson said in a statement. “To us, it means standing up for things you believe in, and fearlessly committing to what’s right. And it is for that reason that Stone Brewing is immediately disassociating ourselves from the band NOFX," the rep added, noting the company has canceled its sponsorship deal for this summer’s Punk In Drublic music festivals.
While future brews have already been axed, the spokesperson said Stone Brewing will be donating all Punk in Drublic beer profits to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Foundation, which provides trauma counseling for police officers and the other first responders.
