Local News in Brief : Guitarist Apologizes for Anti-Gay Words
Zaak Wylde, a guitarist in Ozzy Osbourne’s heavy metal band, apologized Thursday for anti-homosexual remarks he made during a New Year’s Eve rock concert in Long Beach.
“Whoever heard it and got bummed out, sorry,” Wylde told listeners during a brief interview on KNAC radio station. Earlier in the day, a disc jockey for the station also interviewed Osbourne, who complained that he was being blamed for his guitarist’s comments. While Osbourne said he had no intention of expelling Wylde from the band, he added that he had warned Wylde that he shouldn’t make such comments, telling him, “It’s discrimination and someone is going to jump on your back for it.”
Indeed, Long Beach City Councilman Evan Anderson Braude on Tuesday said he would ask city attorneys to research whether Wylde’s remarks violated obscenity and civil disorder laws. During the concert at the Long Beach Arena, Wylde referred to homosexuals with derisive epithets and urged concert-goers to beat them up.
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