Zak Starkey denies making ‘nasty comments’ about Roger Daltrey

Drummer Zak Starkey has seemingly responded to new comments The Who’s Roger Daltrey has made regarding Starkey’s firing from the band.

In an interview with the U.K. publication The Times, Daltrey noted that comments Starkey made after The Who’s Royal Albert Hall show in March, where they appeared to have a disagreement on stage, were “kind of a character assassination,” adding that it was “incredibly upsetting.”

Well, now in a post on Instagram, Starkey shared text from an article quoting The Times piece, insisting in the caption, “I didn’t make any nasty comments about Roger when I got fired.”

At the Royal Albert Hall show Daltrey and Starkey appeared to have some words during the performance of “The Song Is Over,” but in The Times piece, Daltrey clarified that he was actually calling out the person handling his monitors.

“There was no conflict and no argument before the show or after as I was in my car on my way home before Pete (Townshend) and Roger had finished the last song ‘Tea and Theatre’ which is an acoustic duet and doesn’t feature any of the band,” Starkey writes, adding, “I thought the gig was ok. I had no idea about getting fired or any problems at all until a week after the show.”

He notes, “So either the times misunderstood or…confusion reigns O’er me and everyone else!”

Starkey says he thought the whole controversy over his firing “had blown over,” calling The Times story “old news and completely wrong.” He said he wasn’t going to respond to it but did so because the story “has been picked up by every outlet in the cosmos.”

Finally he writes, “I love Roger and he’s a f****** amazing singer – we go back too long for grudges.”