Michael Caulfield/Getty Images May we suggest at his next concert Kid Rock cover the Traffic hit, "Light Up or Leave Me Alone?"
Turning up to see country star Travis Tritt perform at the Andiamo Celebrity Showroom in his native Warren, Mich., over the weekend, the "Cowboy" singer ticked off fellow concergoers when he flouted antismoking laws and lit up a cigar 15 minutes into the show, prompting a slew of complaints to the venue's owners.
Here's what happened.
The Detroit News quoted one patron, a 58-year-old registered nurse by the name of Randy Snell, who claimed Mr. Rock and Roll Jesus refused to adhere to the golden rule by treating others as he himself would like to be treated.
"It's a violation of a state law, and people paid good money to come to a nonsmoking venue, but they were not treated to a nonsmoking venue," Snell said about last Friday's incident. "Special privileges were extended in disregarding the law."
According to the paper, Snell was among a handful in the crowd who demanded the 40-year-old Rock cease smoking only to be rebuffed. He later called the concert hall's owner incensed that the antismoking law wasn't enforced and plans to contact the state's health department over the matter.
Upon hearing about the kerfuffle his puffing caused, Rock issued a lukewarm mea culpa, apologizing for the smoke rings but chalking up his cigar fix to the special treatment he traditionally receives as a celebrity.
"It should be no secret that I do receive special treatment," the rocker said in an email to the News issued through his publicist. "I worked very hard for it, and without it my life would be a series of nonstop cellphone pictures."
Rock added that he continued with his boorish behavior essentially because he was too drunk to realize it and didn't want to disappoint those fans who kept buying him drinks.
"I doubt I'm the first one to ever make a bad decision while being intoxicated, so he without fault please cast the first stone," wrote the "American Badass" singer."My most sincere apologies to the patrons I may have offended, and a big middle finger in advance to all the haters and attorneys who will somehow try to find an easy paycheck in all this."
Nice. Perhaps Rock was thinking of the time he pissed off Waffle House patrons.
In any case, there's no doubt that message was aimed at those folks thinking of filing a civil suit.
Snell, who suffers from asthma, said he has yet to hear back from the venue.