Keith Richards now denies snorting his father's ashes

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has issued a second denial of his comment about snorting his late father's ashes. On Thursday (April 5th), a day after the comment was reported, a Stones' spokesman called it an "off-the-cuff...April Fool's joke," and now Richards has issued his own comment on the Stones' official web site.

Richards' statement says "The complete story is lost in the usual slanting! The truth of the matter is that I planted a sturdy English Oak. I took the lid off the box of ashes and he is now growing oak trees and would love me for it!!! I was trying to say how tight Bert and I were. That tight!!! I wouldn't take cocaine at this point in my life unless I wished to commit suicide."

Also reacting Thursday was Disney, whose upcoming film Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End features Richards as the father of main character Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). Disney senior vice-president Dennis Rice told Britain's New Musical Express that "When (a Disney publicist) forwarded the story to me...I thought 'How are we going to spin this?'...Keith won't be doing a lot of publicity for this movie."

Richards' initial comment occurred during an interview with the New Musical Express. Mark Beaumont, who conducted the interview, contends that Richards -- whose father, Bert, died in 2002 -- was not joking during their chat, explaining that "He didn't offer the information. I had to ask him a couple of questions to get the information out of him. He didn't come straight out with that."

The Stones begin their European tour on June 5th in Werchter, Belgium.
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