Sex Pistols vocalist Frank Carter berated a male concertgoer during the band’s Colorado show Friday night and later kicked him out, telling him to “fuck off.”
The frontman of ’70s punk icons confronted the man who spotted him in the women’s area before playing their hit song “No Feelings” at the Ogden Theater in Denver.
“There’s always a guy who tells me, ‘(Women) can do that all the time. Like, they can’t. “They can’t do that,” Carter shouted in the fan-filmed video.
“You know why? Because they’re walking in a ditch and get elbowed in the head by a fucking idiot!” he added.
The 42-year-old singer became even angrier when he saw the concertgoer shaking his head in disagreement.
“You nod your head like the king is a woman? Are you stupid? This isn’t your experience, so shut up!” Carter shouted.
“You know, instead of squatting, just fuck off, bro!”
Carter continued to advocate for the private space she reserved at each show to provide women with a safer environment where they could enjoy themselves without being crowded or intimidated by men.
“How is it so difficult for you to see that there is room for women at the Sex Pistols concert? Have you decided? No!” he said.
“They can’t always do that. Ask each of them if they feel safe in every ditch!”
The man looked about to roll his eyes before Carter lashed out at him again.
“Turn your damn eyes at me. You did this. You did this!” he shouted.
The rocker eventually called security to ask them to kick the man out of the venue and told him he could “see me outside after the concert.”
Carter addressed the controversy in a series of Instagram Stories on Saturday and made clear he had no intention of backing down.
“If you are a man who is offended by a group making room for a women-only moshpit, then you are PART OF THE PROBLEM,” he wrote.
“Stay home, read a book by bell hooks, come back when kindness, compassion and empathy reach you.”
He added that “incels, homophobes, misogynists, racists, fascists” are not welcome and said the issue is “not up for discussion.”
Carter also clarified that the designated area is open to the transgender community.
“When I say a women’s moshpit, I of course mean a trans-inclusive space. This space is generally for people who don’t feel safe,” she wrote.
“Dancing and having fun without worrying about being exposed to physical, sexual or psychological violence when they are vulnerable. DON’T LET THEM DIVIDE US,” he added.
The singer also shared a message she received from the alleged instigator’s father, who apologized for his “stupid son.”
“This was not the way he was raised and what he was taught. His sisters feel very sorry for him when they find out about his attitude (sic), and so do I,” the father wrote.
The father blamed “misinformation” for his son’s actions, writing that “the poison spewed on young and old has infected and affected our country.”
He said he watched the performance from the balcony and did not realize his son was involved until after the concert.
“I watched the women on their own time and saw that they all had so much fun, and I always wonder what they will do years after you encourage them to try something they may have wanted to do but didn’t feel safe doing,” the father added.
This confrontation comes as the Sex Pistols are on a North American tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of their breakthrough 1977 album, “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols.”
In 2024, Carter joined the reunited Sex Pistols as lead singer, replacing original frontman John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten.
Lydon did not reunite following a legal dispute over the use of Sex Pistols songs in the 2021 miniseries “Pistol.” He last performed with the group in 2008.
The current lineup includes original Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, bassist Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook, as well as Carter on vocals.