In a recent conversation with The Times newspaper, Kathleen Hanna talked about Courtney Love’s aggressive attitude towards her.
Bikini Kill’s vocalist referred to her clash with Love in 1995’s Lollapalooza festival, saying:
“I can’t get into somebody else’s mind and decide what their problem is. It’s sort of like if you have a stalker or someone mugs you on the street, are you going to try to figure out why they did it? Like, who cares – they hurt you for no f*cking reason.”
Speaking about the riot grrrl movement, Hanna remembered there was a lot of jealousy, gossip, and unkindness, but she also mentioned:
“I do still think it was a very important movement. Things can be really flawed and still have a huge impact.”
Details Of Hanna And Love’s Confrontation
In 1995, Kathleen attended Lollapalooza as a guest of Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. Gordon wanted her to be cautious around Courtney, who Gordon feared might cause trouble. Despite Hanna and Love never having met, tension existed due to past interactions and media comments.
During the festival, Love approached Hanna aggressively, which led to a confrontation where Hanna claimed Love physically assaulted her, though Love denies this. In her new memoir, ‘Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk,’ Hanna recalled an incident where Love punched her in the face.
Kathleen saw Courtney approaching, throwing candy from a basket. Feeling uneasy, Kathleen avoided eye contact. Courtney came closer, mimicked a cat, and yelled at Kathleen to leave and feed the poor:
“Then she dropped a sweater in front of me and bent down to grab it. As she stood up, she cold-clocked me in the face. I fell down, put my hands up to my cheek, and felt blood. From the ground, I yelled, ‘I will debate you at the college of your choice!’ Courtney yelled back something like, ‘You can’t even read, and I’m way more feminist than you!’”
The incident happened shortly after Kurt Cobain’s death. Kathleen says she was close to Cobain and even influenced the title of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ Despite this, Love referred to Kathleen as Cobain’s ‘worst enemy.’