Perry Farrell's Wife Defends His Fight With Dave Navarro, Accused of Enabling Her Husband
"Clearly there had been a lot of tension and animosity between the members..."
Published Sept. 14 2024, 11:02 a.m. ET
During a performance in Boston, Jane's Addiction rockers Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro got into a fight, with Perry swinging at the Ink Master host before being restrained by stagehands.
The video is hard to watch, but Perry's wife is coming to his defense.
In a post shared on Instagram, Etty Lau Farrell gave her first-person account of what happened between Perry and Dave, and what caused Perry to "body check" Dave.
Dave Navarro and Perry Farrell performing in 2019.
Perry Farrell's wife Etty claims the stage volume was to blame for his fight with Dave Navarro.
According to Etty the "dynamite" was lit and that there "had been a lot of tension and animosity between the members" before the fight at Lender Pavillion in Boston on September 13.
"Perry’s frustration had been mounting, night after night, he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band," she wrote.
"Perry had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night. But when the audience in the first row, started complaining up to Perry cussing at him that the band was planning too loud and that they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost it."
She went on to say that the band's bass player Eric Avery won the fight, sharing how it was Eric who could be seen holding Perry back to de-escalate the situation. However, she claimed that Eric put Perry in a chokehold and punched him three times in the stomach before a crew member pulled him away.
"Dave still looked handsome and cool in the middle of a fight. Perry was a crazed beast for the next half an hour — he finally did not calm down, but did breakdown and cried and cried," she added.
"Eric, well he either didn’t understand what descalation meant or took advantage of the situation and got in a few cheap shots on Perry."
Fans thanked Etty for the explanation, but accused her of enabling her husband's bad behavior.
"I say this with care: stop enabling your husband. Perry clearly needs help with whatever ailment is impairing his physical and/or mental health," one follower wrote. "Your post isn’t honest or helpful — in fact, it pretty clearly demonstrates how impaired your mindset is, as well."
Another added, "I was at the Tuesday show in NYC, Perry was a mess and ruined the show for the fans and clearly Dave, Eric and Stephen were trying to make up for it... It clearly looks like Perry was the issue with his lame performance again in Boston and he was the aggressor that you are defending."
A third chimed in, "Advice from a former addict here: refrain from making excuses for Perry. He needs help not enablers."
Perry Farrell and Etty have been married since 2002.
Perry met his wife Etty while on tour with Jane's Addiction in 1997. Etty was working as a backup dancer at the time. The couple tied the knot in 2002 and welcomed two kids together, Hezron and Izzadore.
Two decades later, the couple seems more in love than ever.
"One thing you may not know about me is that I am very jealous. Of Etty. She is the only one in the world that I worry about when I am away from her, will do anything to make her love me. It's not her fault, I just am very much in love with her," Perry wrote on Facebook.
"She is the same way towards me... I know one thing- never take your partner for granted. Always be considerate. That way you'll always have a fighting chance."