Jack Antonoff has explained why he wore earplugs at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards.
The musician sat front row alongside his wife Margaret Qualley at the awards ceremony staged in UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on Wednesday.
However, eagle-eyed fans spotted Jack putting in earplugs during Katy Perry's performance, with some taking to social media to question whether he didn't want to listen to her songs.
And later on Thursday, the Bleachers frontman took to X to issue a rather sarcastic response to the controversy.
"I would like to tell you directly from me that I did in fact use earplugs the other night. they were blue 'hearos' brand and I'm mortified to admit that I've been using them for a long time as well as buying them in bulk. I would also like to be honest and get ahead of that fact that i do not only use them when in 100 plus DB (decibel) environments (sic)," he wrote.
"It is humiliating to admit that I use them on planes and every night while sleep. there is nothing left to do but apologize and thank those who have covered this story because although it's an embarrassment to my family and I, I do believe that this was a very important and pressing issue that needed to be exposed."
Jack went on to jokingly apologise to fans who felt the need to post online about his earplugs.
"I'm sorry to those I let down and today I will not (be) going to work and instead thinking about my earplug use and everyone that has been affected by it," the 40-year-old continued. "The band and I have decided to keep all dates as scheduled."
The music video for Fortnight, a song he co-wrote with Taylor Swift and Post Malone, was one of the big winners at the MTV VMAs.
The video garnered nine nominations and won five, including Video of the Year.
