Keith Richards & His Sticky Fingers Accused Of Attack

A Swedish publication claims that Keith Richards threatened and attacked a journalist during an interview at a Paris hotel on Tuesday. The guitarist’s representatives says the journalist greatly exaggerated the situation.

The journalist pointing a finger at Richards is Aftonbladet music reviewer Markus Larsson. Three years ago Richards demanded a public apology after Larsson rated an August 2007 Stones concert in Gothenburg, Sweden, a 2 out of 5.

The guitarist demanded that Aftonbladet and another Swedish tabloid “write the truth.”

Larsson refused to say sorry, explaining, “It is Keith who should apologise. After all it costs around $145 to see a rock star who can hardly handle the riff to ‘Brown Sugar’ any more,” according to NME.com.

Aftonbladet claims that Richards hasn’t forgotten the scathing reviews.

Photo: AP Photo/ Polfoto

Performance in Horsens, Denmark, at Forum Horsens Stadium as part of the A Bigger Bang tour.

In the middle of Tuesday’s 30-minute interview to promote Richards’ new autobiography, “Life,” the guitarist supposedly remembered who Larsson was.

Spinner.com posted the following quotes translated from Aftonbladet:

“His eyes got black and he was absolutely furious,” Larsson said. “He stood up and asked if we would put out the lights and settle the disagreement straight away. At first I was just surprised, I thought he was pulling my leg, but then I realized he was serious and then I felt uncomfortable and I just wanted to get out of there pretty fast.”

Here’s what happened next:

“The meeting ended with the rock star threatening Markus Larsson and hitting him in the head,” the article said. Spinner.com noted that before Richards walked out he told Larsson, “You’re lucky to get our of here alive.”

A spokesperson for Richards told Rolling Stone this is what actually happened:

“At the conclusion of the 20 minute interview Keith Richards jokingly tapped the journalist on the head after his questions got a bit silly. From the people in the room during the interview they would suggest that the writer has allowed his imagination to get the better of him.”

Tapping versus hitting – sounds like something got lost in translation.

Click here for the Aftonbladet story.

Click here for the NME.com story.

Click here for the Spinner.com story.

Click here for the Rolling Stone story.

Daily Pulse