Jesse Hughes and one of his fellow Eagles of Death Metal bandmates were reportedly denied the opportunity to enter Paris' Bataclan venue this weekend (November 12), when the location was hosting its re-opening gig with Sting.
Jesse Hughes
Playing at the venue on November 13, 2015, Eagles of Death Metal were witness to gunmen entering the building, before the terrorists took the lives of 89 concert-goers and staff.
Speaking in an interview earlier this year, Hughes hinted that he believed security at the Bataclan were complicit with the terror attack, saying: "When I first got to the venue and walked in, I walked past the dude who was supposed to be the security guard for the backstage.
"He didn't even look at me. I immediately went to the promoter and said, 'Who's that guy? I want to put another dude on.' He said, 'Well, some of the other guards aren't here yet.' And eventually, I found out that six or so wouldn't show up at all… Out of respect for the police still investigating, I won't make a definite statement, but I'll say that it seems like they had a reason not to show up."
Later apologising for his comments, he went on to make similar ones in another interview later on, which then saw the band kicked off the bill at multiple French festivals that summer.
Explaining the decision to not allow Hughes and his bandmate entry to the re-opening gig, Bataclan co-director Jules Frutos said: "They came, I threw them out - there are things you can't forgive.
"He makes these incredibly false declarations every two months. It is madness, accusing our security of being complicit with the terrorists… Enough. Zero. This has to stop."
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