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'Glee' Creator Ryan Murphy Apologizes To Kings Of Leon

Murphy tells 'The Hollywood Reporter' that he respects it 'when artists don't want a show ... to interpret their songs.'

On second thought, "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy didn't exactly mean it when he [article id="1656723"]said "f--- you" to Kings of Leon[/article] back in January. Yes, he was a bit miffed that the sibling rockers (whom he also called "self-centered a--holes") had mouthed off about not wanting their song "Use Somebody" to appear on the high school musical sensation, but given some time to reflect, Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter this week that perhaps he could have expressed himself differently.

"I didn't speak with as much clarity as I would have liked," Murphy explained to the magazine. "Who am I to say, 'F--- you'? That's not what I meant. I completely understand when artists don't want a show or another artist to interpret their songs. In fact, I respect it. It's their personal work and I'd feel the same way. We get turned down all the time and [I] don't fight it or even go back after a rejection."

Murphy even revealed that he got turned down by another artist recently, Icelandic enigma Bjork, who passed up the opportunity to have one of her songs used in the show. "She read the scene and didn't think it was the right fit for her song," he said. "I told her, 'That's completely cool,' and she said to come back to her down the road. We deal with that every day."

Murphy came under fire again recently when [article id="1660185"]Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl[/article] said he didn't think the show runner should complain when bands don't want their tunes used on the hit Fox series.

"It's every band's right, you shouldn't have to do f---ing 'Glee,' " Grohl told the Reporter. "And then the guy who created 'Glee' is so offended that we're not, like, begging to be on his f---ing show. ... F--- that guy for thinking anybody and everybody should want to do 'Glee.' ... I watched 10 minutes. It's not my thing."

Though the comments hit home with Murphy, a Foos fan, he said he understood where Grohl was coming from and politely disagreed with his comments. "I've never felt that if you don't give 'Glee' your music, there's something diabolical about you," Murphy responded. "To the contrary: I support artists and what they choose to do ... I think Kings of Leon are cool as sh--. The Foo Fighters are brilliant. We'd love to do one of their songs, if they were ever interested. But if it's not their thing, then OK. I personally wish them luck [and] will still listen to their music."

Chastened by the incident, Murphy said he's learned not to drop f-bombs on other artists in the press -- and has, in fact, starting exchanging texts with Kings of Leon -- but added that he won't stop pushing to have cool and interesting music on his program. "I'm really proud of the fact that we can introduce songs to younger kids or their parents because I'm the biggest music fan," he said. "The show is about the love of performing and arts education -- things I think are very special."

What do you think about Murphy's latest remarks regarding the Kings of Leon flap? Tell us in the comments.

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