The Keith Richards interview in which the guitarist allegedly hit Swedish journalist Markus Larsson in the head was aired on a Norway TV show, but the audio tape fails to reveal convincing evidence of the “assault” the reviewer claims took place.
Larsson appeared on the “Schulman Show" on Norway's VG TV yesterday (11/12/10) to portray his version of the events that took place during the Nov 9 interview with The Stone’s guitarist at which the journalist claims Richards “hit him in the head.”
The veteran rocker supposedly hit Larsson upon terminating the promotional interview he’d held for his new autobiography “Life” at Le Meurice Hotel in Paris, France.
The fight allegedly stemmed from an August 2007 incident in which time Larsson gave The Rolling Stones a 2 out of 5 rating for a concert in Gothenburg, Sweden, describing them as "amateurs," and singling out Richards in particular for criticism for which the musician demanded an apology.
During the TV program, Larsson plays an audio recording of the last few minutes of the interview during which the supposed attack took place.
What’s made clear in the recording, is that Richards is not aware of the fact that he’s being interviewed by the same critic who’d trashed The Stones in 2207 until Larsson deliberately brings up incident with the obvious intention of baiting the musician.
Larsson claims that when The Rolling Stone realized who he was, "His eyes got black and he was absolutely furious.” But on the audio recording, though it’s clear the guitarist has been taken by surprise, and is annoyed by the deception, does not start screaming – his voice remains level.
Keith Richards: "So you're the one who hates me."
Markus Larsson: "No, I'm not hating you."
Keith Richards says, "You dislike me. So it's you. Let's turn the lights out. You've written some crap ..."
Richards queries him briefly about the bad review, but wants to end the interview, and the journalist can be heard apologizing.
At the point of the supposedly assault, the guitarist says, "You're going to have a field day with this. Let's say goodbye right now. You're going to be lucky that you got out alive. Now you can make a big thing in the Gothenburg newspaper."
A sound like a glass being put down hard on table is heard. Assumedly, this sound is what is supposed to prove that Richards hit Larsson in the head.
On the TV show, when the camera pans to Larsson, he is laughing and smirking while the audio is being played.
No outcry or reaction whatsoever at the point the supposed “assault” takes place can be heard from Larsson in the audio segment.
A representative for Richards has contradicted Larsson’s account, telling Rolling Stone, "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.”
You can click here to see Larsson's appearance on the "Schulman Show," listen to audio recording and judge for yourself.
Did you know? Keith Richards responded to Markus Larsson’s critical review of The Stones 2007 Gothenburg concert in an open letter to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter which concluded, "There were 56,000 people in Ullevi stadium who bought a ticket to our concert — and experienced a completely different show than the one you 'reviewed.’ How dare you cheapen the experience for them — and for the hundreds of thousands of other people across Sweden.”
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