Glee’s Ryan Murphy vs. Kings of Leon — Feud of Hypocrisy, Egos, and Douchebags

Nobody comes off looking good in this smackdown

“Glee” is a couple weeks away from its big Super Bowl return on Fox, but its creator Ryan Murphy has been keeping his show in the spotlight with some controversial comments made over the past couple days.

But before we go into Murphy’s latest comments, we must go back a few months to the origins of this feud the “Glee” creator has with rockband Kings of Leon.

As you might recall in August of 2010, I awarded Kings of Leon with the first ever TVDoneWright.com “Balls of Steel Award.” They earned this prestigious honor for refusing to lend their music to the hit Fox series “Glee.” The band stated that they did not want “sell-out.” Of course, we should forget the fact that their songs were featured on “Gossip Girl” in 2008, and the band released their clothing-line in 2009. But no, Kings of Lion put their foot down, and said NO to “Glee” and selling-out, earning my “Balls of Steel Awards.”

Six months later, this feud was randomly brought back to the spotlight when “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy had some choice words for Kings of Leon.

“Fuck you, Kings of Leon,” Murphy says to The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”

Yikes! The band-members have since responded.

Band frontman Caleb Followill tells The Hollywood Reporter: ““This whole Gleething 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. We just said no to a license for a TV show, which we do a lot.”

Meanwhile the band’s drummer Nathan Followill Tweeted the following: “Dear Ryan Murphy, let it go. See a therapist, get a manicure, buy a new bra. Zip your lip and focus on educating 7yr olds how to say fuck.”

Who’s right in this? Who’s wrong? Does it even matter?

Let me first say that all parties involved come out of this looking like hypocritical douchebags.

I’ve already made my point on why Kings of Leon “selling-out” stand is hilariously hypocritical. It’s fine to say no to “Glee,” but at least own up to why. Don’t hand us some bullshit response when your songs were on a show like “Gossip Girl.”

But on the other hand, Ryan Murphy has to shut up too. First off, why bring this up SIX months later? I highlight doubt he’s losing sleep over not being able to use “Use Somebody” on his show.

Another thing Murphy has to understand is that not all musicians are going to be open to have their material on “Glee.” And there’s nothing wrong with that. Blasting that artist or band for doing so makes him look like a ‘self-centered asshole’.

What makes Murphy’s statement even more hypocritical is that he’s trying to say that “Glee” influences 7-year-olds. Um, last time I checked, “Glee” was not a kid’s show. And unless Murphy himself is donating a chunk of his salary to arts education, he should shut up.

It is clear here that Murphy’s here ego is at work. After all, he also recently bashed guitarist Slash for rejecting “Glee.”

This feud between Kings of Leon and “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy was born out of hypocrisy, and had been fuelled by egos. If I were one of the two other “Glee” writers, I would try to keep the vocal third a bit quieter.

What do you all think folks? Who do you agree with? Are they both hypocritical and egotistical? Weigh in!

Comments