If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you know I’ve been banging on about Dave Grohl for years. Well, I’m trading my laminated Foo Fighter card for a piping hot cup of “you f-cked up good, Dave Grohl!”

 

Just like when the Oasis news dropped, I didn’t even find out via social media because my friends and family directed and urgently texted me before I saw it. But I’m OK. I’M FINE. Because what did I say a few weeks back? Do not ride hard for any celebrity, they will make fools of us all!

https://x.com/yovaslavia/status/1833588324453531994?s=46
 

That’s why so many people are feeling personally victimized by Dave Grohl today. The disappointment is palpable when, really, this is between his wife, his kids, and an innocent baby who was born a gossip story. This sucks for all of them, to put it mildly. But that’s their story. Our story isn’t the affair, but our reaction to the affair. 

What does it say that so many people are shook? For one thing, it is an indicator of Dave Grohl’s very good reputation. Well, very good until about 1 p.m. on September 10th. He’s known as the nicest guy in rock, amiable with the press, showing up at shows with other musicians, constantly touring – very cheery, no angst. But beneath that whole persona is a very successful and pretty shrewd guy who runs his band like a mini-corporation.

 

He's operated more like a rock CEO than a rock star – no rehab, no trashing rooms at the Chateau Marmont, no messy divorce (yet). He’s been consistent but never the main story. His biggest skirmish was with Courtney Love and they ended that feud years ago. His biggest story this year was one sentence about Taylor Swift. 

 


And yet, Foo Fighters consistently tour and sell out. At an age when rock stars typically wind down he’s been going strong. In more ways than one, apparently!

The people genuinely hurt by this are feeling disillusioned about the person they thought he was, from what they’ve learned from his music or his interviews or his affable persona. It’s a tough lesson that is learned again and again through gossip – there are no good guys. And I don’t literally mean men, I mean that no one is above a spectacular f-ckup. We love people who hurt us and disappoint us. We adore celebrities who do it on a grander scale. 

 

So let’s talk about the post: it is all business. There’s no grovelling, no “I’m sorry if your feelings are hurt,” there’s no promise. There is no apology at all actually, which makes sense. Who would he be saying sorry to? Us? For what? I can almost appreciate the lack of faux emotion. We’ve been spoon-fed so many cringe-y apologies that this feels kind of fresh. Admission of guilt courtesy of ChatGPT.

https://x.com/daninpittsburgh/status/1833587752153276509?s=46&t=6VVSf_bQmIUVa7d4OpNNLA

Let’s drill down even further to the why. Why would he release this statement? Well, the logical guess is that this was going to come out, he was contacted by a tabloid and chose to break the story. That tells me that the woman he is dealing with is not happy or there are people around them who are not happy and want to burn him. So he got ahead of it. But for how long? 

Now I’m no relationship expert but it strikes me that, typically, having a baby outside of one’s marriage is not a one-time slip (and to be clear, he didn’t say it was). But this means that anyone who has an “I hooked up with a rock star” anecdote or anyone who is feeling sidelined by their famous hookup might be feeling a little more inclined to share. Is this the end of Dave’s very bad week or just the beginning? 

Photo credits: Backgrid

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