The Muppets was filled to the brim with many wacky and absurd moments - such as the Kill Bill-style kidnapping of Jack Black and The Moopets rendition of "Rainbow Connection - but the one that may very well top the list is the barbershop quartet performance of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Given the mentions of guns and libidos as well as the overall tone of the song, it was a strange choice for a children's movie, but still made for a hilarious moment (and a great number on the soundtrack). There is one person, however, who is unhappy with the Muppet's use of the song: Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain's ex-wife.
According to TMZ, Love is now saying that the way that director James Bobin and the studio used the song in the movie "raped" the memory of Cobain's musical legacy. A big part of this, of course, has to do with the fact that Love was never asked for permission to use the song, but that's probably because nobody needed to ask her. The site says that Love had previously sold her rights to Nirvana's music to a company called Primary Wave Music and that they actually hold all distribution rights. What's more, when Primary Wave Music said yes to the Muppet's request to use the song they also got permission from Cobain's bandmates, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic (it's also worth noting that Grohl actually has a cameo in the film as the Moopet's drummer).
This is just all kinds of stupid. The only reason we're hearing about this now is because the Blu-ray/DVD release of The Muppets is next week and Love feels like she can take advantage of the situation by creating a media stir. The fact of the matter is that the former Hole singer has absolutely no right to complain, particularly because part of the profits from the songs in Nirvana's catalog actually go to Love as well as her and Kurt's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. This is nothing more than a desperate publicity stunt.
