The Darkness frontman Juston Hawkins has responded to comments from angry fans who were unimpressed with his recent jibes at Yungblud.
Justin's brother Dan said in an Instagram post that Yungblud's tribute to Ozzy Osbourne at MTV's Video Music Awards show in Los Angeles was "cynical, nauseating and, more importantly, shit."
Those comments went viral and Justin backed them up, describing Yungblud's performance with Aerosmith and Nuno Bettencourt as the "latest in a long line of – I’m sorry to say it – poseurs..."
Now, Justin has directly addressed his own fans on his YouTube channel, Justin Hawkins Rides Again, insisting he is entitled to his own opinion and doubling down on his criticism of Yungblud.
One fan commented that the criticism was "nothing more than hating," and added: "I like this kid’s spirit and see no reason to criticise the shit out of him for it."
Hawkins replies: "I don’t think I criticised Yungblud’s spirit. I admire that as much as the next person. What I was saying was that it comes off like a TV personality doing rock.
"I find it a bit cringe, and the thing about my career is that I’ve done things that are embarrassing or cringe. Everyone’s been really quick to kick the shit out of me.
"Its got to be said, we can’t live in this culture where criticism is not allowed. When I’ve done embarrassing things, people have called me out, and I appreciate that kind of guidance and criticism. That’s how you become a better artist."
In response to other comments calling him petty, bittern and jealous, Hawkins adds: "Someone like Yungblud should be resilient enough to cope with a little bit of critique because he’s got a huge following and his last few albums have done really, really well.
"He doesn’t need me to support him… although I have said positive things about his earlier releases because I think, culturally, he could be quite an important individual.
"I just don’t think he’s written any good songs yet – and that’s my opinion."
Yungblud developed a friendship with Ozzy in the run-up to the Black Sabbath icon's death. He said in a recent interview: “I’ve had to navigate in the past couple of years, to get to know a hero of yours and then he passes away, right as you start to get to know each other as humans, was really hard.
"He was everything for me, you know?"
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