Of all the memorable interviews that Vancouver weirdo Nardwuar the Human Serviette has done over the last few decades, few stick with us like the ones that go horribly wrong. One such interview was a chat Nardwuar had with Blur in 2003 for MuchMusic's Going Coastal. The clip, which is available below, saw Blur drummer Dave Rowntree harass the poor journalist, stealing his iconic tam and glasses and generally giving him an uncomfortably hard time.
Now a politician campaigning for London's Labour party, Rowntree has issued an apology for the Nardwuar attack some eight years later, blaming his cocaine addiction on the unwarranted bullying. Here's the full statement, taken from Rowntree's site:
There has been some speculation as to why I accepted a recent blog comment linking to a clip of me bullying the Canadian journalist Nardwuar in 2003.
The reason is, that I can't take the credit for the things I've done that I'm proud of, without taking the blame for the things that I'm ashamed of.
And this is definitely one of the things I'm ashamed of.
There's no excuse for my bullying, and the reason I did it is perhaps nearly as sordid.
As I've written in the past I became addicted to cocaine during the nineties. Now I've no idea if it has this effect on anyone else, but for me, the day after a cocaine binge I'd sometimes fly into a murderous rage, and take it out on whoever happened to be around. In this case, it happened to be the journalist.
To be clear, Nardwuar didn't do anything to provoke me. I sent an apology to him the next day, but I didn't hear anything back from him, so I assume he didn't accept it.
These days I keep a clip of the interview on my phone. I don't drink, smoke or take drugs, and if from time to time I wonder if I'm doing the right thing treading this (sometimes rather lonely) path I play it, and have the answer.
Nardwuar responded to the apology on his Twitter page, where he wrote, "Thanks to Dave of Blur for this apology... I do appreciate it!"
Now a politician campaigning for London's Labour party, Rowntree has issued an apology for the Nardwuar attack some eight years later, blaming his cocaine addiction on the unwarranted bullying. Here's the full statement, taken from Rowntree's site:
There has been some speculation as to why I accepted a recent blog comment linking to a clip of me bullying the Canadian journalist Nardwuar in 2003.
The reason is, that I can't take the credit for the things I've done that I'm proud of, without taking the blame for the things that I'm ashamed of.
And this is definitely one of the things I'm ashamed of.
There's no excuse for my bullying, and the reason I did it is perhaps nearly as sordid.
As I've written in the past I became addicted to cocaine during the nineties. Now I've no idea if it has this effect on anyone else, but for me, the day after a cocaine binge I'd sometimes fly into a murderous rage, and take it out on whoever happened to be around. In this case, it happened to be the journalist.
To be clear, Nardwuar didn't do anything to provoke me. I sent an apology to him the next day, but I didn't hear anything back from him, so I assume he didn't accept it.
These days I keep a clip of the interview on my phone. I don't drink, smoke or take drugs, and if from time to time I wonder if I'm doing the right thing treading this (sometimes rather lonely) path I play it, and have the answer.
Nardwuar responded to the apology on his Twitter page, where he wrote, "Thanks to Dave of Blur for this apology... I do appreciate it!"