Sex Pistols frontman Frank Carter confronted and ultimately had a male fan removed from a women-only mosh pit during the band’s Colorado performance Friday night, telling him to “just f–king leave.”
The 1970s punk legends were performing at Denver’s Ogden Theatre when Carter spotted the man inside the designated women’s area, shortly before the band launched into its hit “No Feelings.”
In video recorded by an audience member, Carter took aim at the crowd member from the stage. “Every time, there’s always a f–king man that tells me, ‘(Women) can do this all the f–king time.’ Like, they can’t. They f–king can’t,” he said.
“Do you know why? Because they walk in the mosh pit and they get a f–king elbow to the head by a f–king idiot!” the singer continued.
The 42-year-old musician became more heated after the attendee appeared to shake his head in protest.
“You’re shaking your head like you’re a f — king woman? Are you f–king stupid? It’s not your lived experience, so just shut the f–k up!” Carter shouted.
“Do you know what, instead of crouching, just f–king leave, bro!” he added.
Carter went on to explain why he creates the women-only section at his shows: to offer female attendees a safer place to mosh without feeling crowded, threatened or intimidated by men.
“How is it so difficult for you to see space made for women at a Sex Pistols gig? Did you decide? No!” he said from the stage.
“They can’t f–king do this whenever. Ask any one of them if they feel safe in every mosh pit!”
When the man appeared to roll his eyes, Carter directed another outburst toward him.
“Roll your f–king eyes at me. You f–king did this. You did this!” he yelled.
Carter eventually summoned venue security and ordered the attendee to leave. He also told the man he could “see me outside after the gig.”
On Saturday, Carter addressed the incident in a series of Instagram Stories and made clear that he stood by his decision.
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“If you are a man who gets offended by a band making room for a female only moshpit then you are PART OF THE PROBLEM,” he wrote.
“Stay home, read a book by Bell hooks, come back when kindness, compassion and empathy have landed with you.”
He also said that “incels, homophobes, misogynists, racists, fascists” were not welcome, adding that the policy was “not up for debate.”
Carter further clarified that the designated mosh area is inclusive of transgender people.
“When I say a Ladies only moshpit pit. I of course mean a trans inclusionary space. The space is for people who don’t usually feel safe,” he wrote.
The goal, he added, is to allow people to “dance and have fun without the worry of physical, sexual or psychological violence being used against them while they are vulnerable. DO NOT LET THEM DIVIDE US.”
The singer also shared a message he received from the alleged instigator’s father, who apologized for “my idiotic son.”
“Wasn’t how he was raised, wasn’t what he was taught. His sisters learning of his stand are very upset w (sic) him as am I,” the father wrote.
The father blamed “misinformation” for his son’s actions, writing that “the poison that has been spewed into young and old people has infected and affected our country.”
He said he watched the show from the balcony and didn’t realize his son was involved until after the concert.
“I watched the women during their time and saw all of them having so much fun and i wonder years from now what they will do from your encouragement to try something they may have always wanted to but didnt feel safe trying to do,” the father added.
The confrontation comes as the Sex Pistols tour North America to mark the 50th anniversary of their landmark 1977 album, “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols.”
Carter joined the reunited Sex Pistols as its lead singer in 2024, replacing original frontman John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten.
Lydon did not participate in the reunion following a legal dispute over the use of Sex Pistols songs in the miniseries “Pistol” in 2021. He last performed with the band in 2008.
The current lineup includes original Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, bassist Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook, alongside Carter on vocals.