Of the artists who opted out of licensing their music to FOX’s megahit “Glee,” few generated as much buzz as Kings of Leon, who bluntly rejected the idea in a media interview.
In a Hollywood Reporter feature on the success of “Glee,” series creator Ryan Murphy fires back.
“F*** you, Kings of Leon,” says Murphy. “They’re self-centered assholes, and they missed the big picture. They missed that a 7-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 original comments from KoL, published via NME, were not particularly biting towards the show–the group just noted that it rejected the offer from “Glee,” as it has done with many movies and television projects.
Fans, however, were angered by the band’s reluctance to clear music for “Glee” given the fact that Kings songs have appeared on shows like “Entourage” and “Gossip Girl.” The feeling was that the rejection had to be fueled by something specific about the show or the offer, since the band does not have a wholesale policy of rejecting licensing for the screen.
Responding to the controversy, lead singer Caleb Followill tells THR, “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 [Grammy-winning single “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.”
