GODSMACK Frontman Publicly Apologizes To CREED

GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna has issued a "public apology" to the members of CREED, and in particular their singer, Scott Stapp, for using a derogatory term for a homosexual male to describe Stapp (see video footage below) when the Massachusettes hard rock band performed at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on October 9. The reference was made during Erna's lengthy speech midway through the final song of GODSMACK's set, "Whatever", which saw Erna challenging the audience to form a massive pit on the floor of the venue and "tear shit up."

Erna's "public apology" in its entirety:

"I would like to send my sincerest apologies to the members of CREED, Scott Stapp and any of our fans that I may have offended for an insulting and disrespectful comment I had made towards Scott Stapp and CREED at a show GODSMACK recently played in Connecticut at Mohegan Sun. I have no excuses whatsoever.

"The truth here is, there has been a lot of bad blood for many, many years between myself and Scott concerning his actions towards a young fan he disrespected, and how he has treated people in the past. And from that day forth I had completely lost all respect for him. But the details of what he did are no longer important now. What's important is that it was a long time ago, and I know Scott has come clean, admitting his faults from the past for the most part, and has worked hard on cleaning himself up. And I should have respected that and given the guy the benefit of the doubt. But I didn't. I got hung up in the moment, and said something that was completely out of line through a grudge I have carried for many years about him. For that I would like to 'publicly apologize' to all the members of CREED and their fans. With the exception of Scott, I have been friends with the members of CREED/ALTER BRIDGE for many years, and I am embarrassed as a friend to have insulted them like I did.

"I have suffered no consequences for my actions, nor have I been requested by my record label, management company or attorneys to reach out and correct this matter. I am writing this letter by my own will. I am doing this because I want everyone to know that I recognize this was an immature and meaningless attack, and I am man enough to admit when I am wrong. I would like to think I have grown past these parts of my life, and I have always preached the word that 'music is not a competition,' it is a universal language that we all are connected to and experience in our own ways, and I stick by those words. With that being said, I would be nothing more than a hypocrite to slander another artist for no other reason than for past events that I have held against him.

"I would also like to say thank you to the fans for waking me up on this matter through your reviews, comments and emails, as harsh as some of them were, they helped me realize that I am a 42-year-old dad, with a great career and a much bigger purpose in life than to be stuck in my juvenile past, and wasting my time carrying around useless grudges. I myself have made many mistakes in my life and was no angel, but have been forgiven for those mistakes. So I am here to bury this once and for all.

"I don't expect Scott or any of the guys to accept my apology, but I still feel the least I can do for embarrassing them is to man up and apologize publicly. It was a tasteless and unnecessary comment about four very hard-working guys. We're all in this rat race together, and I am very sorry for disrespecting you."

Fan-filmed clip #1:

Fan-filmed clip #2: