The country music world is still reeling due to the death of
Kris Kristofferson . The country music legend and member of The Highwaymen passed away at his home in Maui, Hawaii on Saturday at 88 years old. His family posted the following statement:
"It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 28 at home. We’re all so blessed for our time with him. Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all." https://www.instagram.com/p/DAhI664SOgj/
Tributes and memories have been pouring in from fans and artists alike, with Eric Church even sharing an unreleased song titled
"Kickin' It With Kristofferson" , and discussions about the specifics on the impact he had on the scene are running wild, like how he changed the course of country music by giving
John Prine a chance, but there's a story that's picked up some steam online and it needs to be addressed. People have long referenced an alleged altercation that took place between Kris and Toby Keith at Willie Nelson's 70th birthday concert back in 2003. It was brought to the public by actor Ethan Hawke, who wrote a guest story for
Rolling Stone in 2009 that opened with what he claims to have seen backstage at the Beacon Theatre in New York. The birthday concert, as you may have guessed, was attended by a ton of celebrities, including Elvis Costello, Wyclef Jean, Shelby Lynne, Paul Simon, and Norah Jones, and while I'm sure there were many great moments that night, it was an argument between Kristofferson and an unnamed but obviously identifiable country star that most people remember. According to Hawke, a certain rising country music star with a monster radio hit about "bombing America's enemies back into the Stone Age" (obviously
Toby Keith ) was walking past when he noticed Kris and Willie Nelson standing next to each other. He gave Willie Nelson a happy birthday and then, allegedly, said the following out of the corner of his mouth to Kristofferson:
"N one of that lefty sh*t out there tonight, Kris" Obviously, that's a very aggressive statement and according to Hawke, Kris didn't let it slide, responding:
" What the f*ck did you just say to me?" Willie tried to step in and cool the rising tempers:
" Oh, no. Don’t get Kris all riled up" But Toby didn't let it go (allegedly), saying:
"You heard me" Toby then went to walk away but Kris stopped him, saying:
“Don’t turn your back to me, boy.” Toby then tried to ease tensions himself:
“I don’t want any problems, Kris… I just want you to tone it down.” But it had the opposite effect (again, allegedly) and Kris went off:
“You ever worn your country’s uniform? Don’t ‘What?’ me, boy! You heard the question. You just don’t like the answer. ‘Have you ever served your country?’ The answer is, no, you have not. Have you ever killed another man? Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not. So shut the f*ck up… you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” He then told people standing nearby:
“You know what Waylon Jennings said about guys like him? They’re doin’ to country music what pantyhose did to finger-f*ckin.'” (There's also no proof that Waylon Jennings ever said that, but that's another story....) Obviously, that is a heavy moment and there's no shortage of people online who want to celebrate Kristofferson telling Toby Keith to take his shtick elsewhere, but there's more than a few problems with this story. For starters, just Kristofferson's response doesn't make much sense. While he did serve in the Army, he never saw combat so he also can't claim to have "cashed the check" the country gave him for taking another man's life. His alleged response kind of sounds like he was implying that he had. Also, Toby Keith was registered Democrat until 2008, when he registered as an Independent. For him to go that hard at "Lefties" back in 2003 seems rather unlikely. But enough of the speculation, let's get to the real kicker... both men denied it ever happened. Toby Keith said the entire story was made up. At the ACM Awards that year,
Keith said :
“I don’t know Ethan Hawke. Ethan Hawke wanted to do some kind of superficial 'Rolling Stone' article. And he did everything he could to make his story the greatest story ever in 'Rolling Stone.' And it was a fictitious f*cking lie. Ok?
He didn’t even call me by my name… He called Norah Jones, Ray Charles, everybody else by name. Willie, Kris… why didn’t he call my name? Why didn’t he say Toby Keith walked through and said this sh*t? Right?
You know why. You know why. You know as good as anybody why... he didn’t want to f***cking deal with the aftermath.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jiM3C4MhfQ Kristofferson was also asked about the incident and dismissed it in his response:
“I would like to state for the record that I am friends with Ethan Hawke, Toby Keith and Tennessean reporter Peter Cooper. Although I do not remember the events at Willie’s birthday party as reported in Rolling Stone, what does it matter? That was six years ago. I spoke to Ethan before I put out my statement and thanked him for the beautiful story he wrote for Rolling Stone and I also told him I did not recall the incident at Willie’s birthday party. This is the last statement I will put out about this nonsense.” Interesting that Kris made a point to tell Hawke that he didn't remember that part of the story while thanking him for writing it. It isn't exactly a complete and explicit denial but calling it "nonsense" certainly doesn't bode well for the credibility of Hawke's story. Kris also recalled the incident in a conversation with the
Minneapolis Star Tribune , dismissing it once again:
“Actually, I like Toby Keith, but I don’t agree with his politics. There are a lot things in artistry that transcend politics. That’s something that happened six years ago, I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast.” Again, not a flat denial, and Kris added that his wife remembered the incident, but regardless, there's no denying that Kris doesn't think it's as big a deal as people made it out to be. Plus, Hawke wrote that story 6 years after it allegedly happened... not exactly fresh in the memory. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Toby may have made a sarcastic comment to Kris, Kris may have answered with a bit of bluster, but it seems clear from both of their comments and the fact that they remained friends for years following that it certainly was not what Hawke made it seem. The two were spotted smiling together at the BMI Awards a few months later and this was the only spat that ever made it to the public, which really shows that this incident is way more bark than bite. So we can stop with the X threads and viral posts about how Kris told off Toby Keith like that was his big claim to fame? Right now, the internet is loaded with people who couldn't even name a Kristofferson song, allegedly "mourning" his death with a likely made-up story about the time he "owned" a Republican. Even if there's a small amount of truth to it, it's clear that Kristofferson didn't go scorched earth on Toby and people are making an embellished story fit their own political narrative. Let's remember Kris Kristofferson as he should be seen, a brilliant songwriter and great guy that will forever be remain in the hearts of all country music fans, whether they know it or not. Same goes for Toby Keith. RIP to both Kris Kristofferson and Toby Keith. Here's the full concert from the night of the alleged argument featuring Willie Nelson and a ton of his friends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1veY6_nUcE
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