Attila's Chris Fronzak Apologizes To Beartooth's Caleb Shomo For His Divisive Joke: "I Meant It As A Joke, Not A Jab At Gay People"

Attila vocalist Chris Fronzak has publicly apologized to Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo over the divisive joke he made towards him yesterday, March 02nd. That joke was made in response to Shomo having deleted his Instagram yesterday, seemingly in response to continued backlash and negativity associated with Beartooth‘s latest music video for their track “Free“.

Shomo‘s radical image makeover that was unveiled via the press shot and accompanying music video for that track drew backlash from a some users on social media. According to some fans, that resulting negativity he has faced allegedly also spilled over into the comments of posts made on social media by his wife as well.

“Free” was released late last week and marked the first Beartooth single through their new label home of Fearless Records. Shomo stated alongside the song’s debut:

“‘Free‘ is the start of the next chapter of my music and my life. The emotional roller coaster that is living can be very complicated at times. In one day you can equally experience pure fear and pure joy. This song shows a glimpse of what is to come from the next Beartooth album, which is the most honest depiction of my soul I will most likely ever make.”

In the wake of word of Shomo deleting his Instagram yesterday, Chris Fronzak, vocalist for the metalcore band Attila, issued two nearly identical posts, one of which he has since deleted.

Fronzak, who has had a well-documented history of controversial statements and actions, was quick to defend his post as a joke. He has since went on to engage in a number of barbed exchanges amid the ire he drew on social media for the joke, which some have interpreted as being seen as insensitive and homophobic.

A follow-up post Fronzak made in reply to a response on X about his since-deleted joke further fanned the flames. When a user replied to Fronzak‘s controversial joke with, “What’s up with men needing to be feminine? I’ll never understand it.”, Fronzak replied:

Fronzak further defended that response on social media today, while also continuing to seemingly mock Shomo online this afternoon:

However, this evening Fronzak apparently had a change of heart and has since issued the following apology to Shomo:

“I would like to formally apologize for my tweet about Caleb Shomo. I meant it as a joke, but it didn’t come across that way. I don’t know what he’s going through at the moment, but I wish him the best. The world has too much hate rn & I don’t want to add any fuel to that fire. People will probably twist this into more negativity, but I am being honest. I meant it as a joke, not a jab at gay people. I personally thought it was lighthearted but I suppose that’s subjective.

From my perspective- I get death threats daily for over a decade. People call me horrific things & make up terrible stories. Horrible stuff every day. My perspective is skewed, the internet has desensitized me so I thought it was a 1/10 light joke. The reality is, people are struggling in their own ways, and jokes are subjective. You never know what someone is going through. Therefore, I am sorry, and I will work towards thinking about things deeper before I just word-vomit shit into this bird app. Love yall”

The Word Alive vocalist Tyler “Telle” Smith has since voiced his support for Shomo amid the controversy, issuing the below post: