Kings of Leon Involved In Spat with ‘Glee’ Producer

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Posted January 31, 2011 by J Matthew Cobb in News

Kings of Leon and ‘Glee’ producer are at odds; feud spills unto Perez Hilton’s blog and Twitter

The war of words screamed across the Internet last week as Kings of Leon and Ryan Murphy, producer of the FOX hit TV show ‘Glee’, expressed their potty-mouth rants at each other regarding a song licensing situation. The event seems to be more about ego and money than most realize.

In case you’re out of the loop, here’s the story:

Murphy is severely upset that Kings of Leon turned down the chance to have their song showcased in their hit parade of songs. Glee wanted to use the song “Use Somebody” in one of their episodes, but KOL responded saying they weren’t really interested and that they had not seen the show.

Murphy jumps on his Twitter account and unleashes a barrage of anger against the rock band. “F**k you, Kings of Leon,” he said.

Murphy continued:

“They’re self-centered assholes, and they missed the big picture. They missed that a seven-year-old kid can see someone close to their age singing a Kings of Leon song, which will maybe make them want to join a glee club or pick up a musical instrument. It’s like, OK, hate on arts education. You can make fun of ‘Glee’ all you want, but at its heart, what we really do is turn kids on to music.”

The Kings responded; hoping to calm the situation. “This whole ‘Glee’ thing is a shock to us. It’s gotten out of hand. At the time of the request, we hadn’t even seen the show. It came at the end of that record cycle, and we were over promoting [‘Use Somebody’]. This was never meant as a slap in the face to ‘Glee’ or to music education or to fans of the show. We’re not sure where the anger is coming from.”

KOL drummer Nathan Followill decided to respond to the ‘Glee’ producer directly using Twitter:

 “Dear Ryan Murphy, let it go. See a therapist, get a manicure, buy a new bra. Zip your lip and focus on educating seven year-olds how to say f***.”

Murphy accused Followill of homophobia when he took his frustrations to the Hollywood Reporter and even to gossip blogger Perez Hilton. “That’s [Followill] a homophobe badly in need of some education,” Murphy said to Hilton in a statement. “I’m all for manicures, don’t wear a bra. Would guess most gay dudes don’t.” Murphy also suggested that any material from Kings of Leon will not be considered for ‘Glee’ in the future. Perez Hilton championed Murphy’s defense and quickly labeled KOL’s drummer as being a homophobe, but Hilton’s posts failed to mention Murphy’s earlier statements, in which he uses profanity and tells them to “f*** off.” “They’re self-centered assholes, and they missed the big picture,” says Murphy.

Murphy’s attacks against the Kings continued in the Hollywood Reporter when he states, on the record, that he “finds that people who make those comments, their careers are over; they’re uneducated and quite stupid.” This time he’s referring to Slash, who, unlike Followill, actually did make a crack about Glee, calling it “worse than Grease” as far as licensing went.

Since Murphy’s diatribe went public, Followill quickly deleted the tweets and has since apologized, saying:

“I’m sorry for anyone that misconstrued my comments as homophobic or misogynistic. I’m so not that kind of person. I really do apologize.”

In other KOL news, their Australian tour has been temporarily postponed after Nathan Followill’s injury worsened. He had a torn right labrum and bicep and has been playing while recovering. Followill posted a message on Twitter concerning his fans and his injury: “Sorry to all the fans in Australia and South Africa. My bum wing needs more time to heal but we’ll be back later this year. Sorry again.”

Kings of Leon plans to resume touring in November and are hoping to draw up new dates for ticket holders. No word yet on an eventual cancellation of their Friday night gig at the sold-out Coachella festival taken place in April.

So what do you think?
Do you think Kings of Leon had a right to decline their song?
Do you think Murphy was out of character as a producer for cursing out potential clients?
Do you think they should kiss and make up?

FURTHER READING >>

Glee Creator Ryan Murphy: “F–k You, Kings of Leon” – E! Online
Glee vs. Kings of Leon: Who’ll Drop It First? – E! Online

Kings of Leon’s spat with Glee creator Ryan Murphy – The Guardian
Kings of Leon to ‘Glee’s’ Ryan Murphy: Go ‘See a Thearpist’ – Billboard.com


About the Author

J Matthew Cobb

Managing editor of HiFi Magazine

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