Tool drummer lives up to his band’s name by yelling homophobic slur during alleged assault
Musician Danny Carey. (Kevin Winter/WireImage)
Tool drummer Danny Carey has lived up to the American rock band’s name after yelling homophobic slurs during a dust-up at Kansas City International Airport, Missouri.
Carey, 60, allegedly assaulted a person inside the airport terminal by shoving his fingers repeatedly into their chest.
“You’re a f**king f****t,” he shouted at the person, thought to be a male security staffer, Sunday night (12 December).
In startling mobile phone footage seen by TMZ, he shouts, “Who did I assault?”, before adding: “I just want to get the f**k out of here.” He urged the person recording the scuffle to “videotape all of this”.
A distressed Carey by the end of the clip is pinned against a wall and cuffed by two officers. “Quit resisting now!” a cop shouted.
Tool drummer arrested for misdemeanour after hurling homophobic abuse
Airport law enforcement responded to reports of a “disturbance between two males at an airport terminal” at around 7pm.
They arrived at the scene to find Carey scuffling with another man, with officers claiming they heard Carey yell homophobic slurs.
Kansas City Airport Police arrested Carey Sunday for misdemeanour assault in the alleged incident.
According to a citation ticket seen by Billboard, Carey “intentionally inflict[ed] injury” on the unnamed man.
Drummer Danny Carey of American rock band Tool. (Richard Ecclestone/Redferns)
He “did intentionally cause and unlawful, offensive contact upon [redacted] by yelling at the complainant ‘you’re a f**king f****t’ repeatedly and jabbed the complainant in the chest repeatedly”.
The Kansas native had swung by Kansas City to perform at a college basketball game with the University of Kansas marching band.
Playing Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” during the halftime show, a fan-recorded video showed, Carey’s hometown team eventually won against the University of Missouri. The game took place at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas.
He has since been released on bond and will now appear in municipal court 12 January.
A police report has been forwarded to prosecutors to review, meaning he could soon be charged and fined up to $13,900 for the incident.
But the world of guitar-fired defiance that is rock and heavy metal isn’t something LGBT+ music lovers can’t bop their heads to – some even play it.
Rob Halford, the howling, growling lead singer of British metal band Judas Priest, came out as gay in a television interview in 1998.
Singer Rob Halford of Judas Priest. (Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
“I said something to the effect of, ‘Well, speaking as a gay man, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah’,” he told Apple Music’s Hattie Collins in July this year. “And I heard the producer’s clipboard bounce on the floor.
“It was one of those gay sharp intakes: ‘Oh my God, he’s come out.’
“It was just this enormous feeling of freedom,” he added, “and the pressure was gone, and there’s no more talking behind your back because you have all this ammunition of power as a gay person now, as an out gay person.
“Nothing can hurt you because this it is. You can’t throw insults, you can’t throw rumours, you can’t say anything negative about me because I am who I am.”
