NOFX thought it would be "hilarious" to joke about the October 1 shootings while on stage in Las Vegas. They said "at least they were country fans and not punk rock fans". This is disgusting and callous. We will never support anything involving this band ever again. https://t.co/am3R8QJIE6
Punk rock band NOFX were pulled from headlining a festival in Ohio after joking that at least only country music fans died in October's Las Vegas massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
Members of NOFX have since apologized for the remark, which the band made during the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival in Vegas on Sunday.
“I guess you’re only getting shot in Vegas if you’re in a country band,” one band member told the crowd at the end of a song.
“I mean, that sucked,” frontman Fat Mike, whose real name is Michael Burkett, chimed in. "At least they were country fans and not punk rock fans."
Members of the audience gasped and booed, but Burkett responded with "you were all thinking it."
Fifty-eight people died and about 500 others were injured when a gunman opened fire into crowds at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Oct. 1.
NOFX were scheduled to play at the inaugural Camp Punk in Drublic Festival in Ohio, which they started, according to Consequence of Sound. But they, along with Burkett's cover band, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, have been cut from the lineup.
“While NOFX is known for their dark, uncomfortable humor, the festival producers of Camp Punk In Drublic are shocked and disappointed by the band’s recent statements about the Route 91 Harvest Festival victims and country music fans,” the festival said in a statement. “These statements do not reflect the feelings or views of the Camp Punk in Drublic festival, its staff, and its sponsors.”
Stone Brewing Co., one of the event's sponsors, also severed ties with the band and the festival.
The organizers of Punk Rock Bowling also issued an apology on behalf of the festival, distancing themselves from the band's remarks.
“In light of NOFX’s comments during their performance at the Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival, we would like to offer a formal apology to those in attendance, the city of Las Vegas, the victims and the families of 10/1,” Punk Rock Bowling founders Mark and Shawn Stern said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
On Thursday, the band finally apologized on its official Facebook page.
"I can’t sleep, no one in my band can," the band said in a statement. "What we said in Vegas was shitty and insensitive and we are all embarrassed by our remarks."