Eddie Van Halen once held a gun to Fred Durst's head, new book claims

According to a new book by filmmaker and photographer Andrew Bennett, Eddie Van Halen once held a gun to the head of Limp Bizkit‘s Fred Durst following an ill-fated jam session.

Bennett’s new coffee table photo book Eruption in the Canyon: 212 Days and Nights with the Genius of Eddie Van Halen, consists of pictures and anecdotes from Bennett’s time filming the band in the studio between 2004 and 2007.

As reported by Ultimate Classic Rock, the book claims that Durst and Van Halen were introduced to each other after Wes Borland had quit Limp Bizkit and the band were seeking a replacement guitarist.

After a record label executive suggested they work together, Bennett claims Durst responded: “That would be hilarious. The greatest guitar player ever plays with the worst band ever,” but Van Halen said “Fuck it, let’s jam.”

Bennett goes on to claim that the session took place at a house in Beverly Hills, but Van Halen was unhappy that Durst was smoking marijuana and left without his guitar and amps, describing it as “like being a scholar amongst kindergartners.”

The next day, according to Bennett, after being unable to get in contact with Durst for 24 hours to retrieve his gear, Van Halen decided to take matters into his own hands, driving to Durst’s house in an assault vehicle he had bought at a military auction.

“He got out wearing no shirt, his hair in a Samurai bun on top of his head, his jeans held up with a strand of rope and combat boots held together by duct tape. And he had a gun in his hand,” Bennett writes.

“That asshole answered the door,” Bennett quotes Van Halen in the book. “I put my gun to that stupid fucking red hat of his, and I said, ‘Where’s my shit, motherfucker?’ That fucking guy just turned to one of his employees and starts yelling at him to grab my shit.

“Eddie Van Halen stood on the front lawn of a residential home in Beverly Hills in broad daylight, smoking a cigarette while holding a gun on Fred Durst as he went back and forth from the house to the assault vehicle, lugging amps and guitars.”

Van Halen have previously expressed their dissatisfaction at Bennett’s work, and ended up in court over an ownership dispute in 2018.