Tom Morello Responds to Backlash Over Phone-Throwing Incident | Page 2 | Revolver

Tom Morello Responds to Backlash Over Phone-Throwing Incident

Guitarist spells it out for detractors who claim he crossed a line, says fan acted "entitled"
tom-morello-2018-michael-campanella-redferns.jpg, MICHAEL CAMPANELLA/Redferns
photograph by MICHAEL CAMPANELLA/Redferns

Following an incident reported yesterday in which Rage Against the Machine and Prophets of Rage guitarist Tom Morello tossed a fan's phone into the audience after the over-enthused concertgoer reportedly ignored earlier warnings to keep mobile devices out of the axman's face, Morello has responded to critics on Twitter who think he went too far. 

One particularly incensed detractor lashed out, tweeting, "Hey Tom Morello. You are a fuckin douche bag for throwing that fans phone. What an egotistical POS you are. Loser ass celebrity."

It only took a few minutes for Morello to quote-tweet his response: "When you invite guests to YOUR stage and CLEARLY TELL THEM 'if you stick a cell phone in my face I WILL THROW IT' and then their uncontrollable entitled selfie urges overcome their sense of reason they get their f*ckin phones thrown. Simple."

Another keyboard commando criticized the guitarist's actions, calling him a "liberal sjw hypocrite who constantly moans about injustice and poor people but thinks he's allowed to destroy people's personal expensive property." 

In another brief but biting take-down, Morello simply replied, "He got his phone back kid." Many others took to cracking jokes about the situation, using the popular "triggered" pejorative to dunk on the upset fans and commending not only the musician's actions but also voicing their pleasant surprise that he had time to pull off the snatch-and-throw without so much as missing a note. See video of the now-infamous phone-toss below.