Erykah Badu And Flaming Lips Feud Over Nudity-Filled Video

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Earlier this year, the Flaming Lips decided to team up with Erykah Badu to film a music video for their collaboration “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”. Lead singer Wayne Coyne presented Badu with an outline of how he saw the clip going. He wanted Badu to be in a bathtub filled with glitter, blood and other fluids. The singer was having no part of that, but out of respect for their partnership, she extended the offer to her little sister who accepted.

The footage was shot, supposedly with promises Badu would receive a rough cut, but earlier this week, it was uploaded to the Internet without any communication. The version the band went with features a ton of nudity and some sketchy imagery. Irate, Badu took to her Twitter today to let Coyne have it, and the two have been going back and forth ever since. Here’s an excerpt of her initial rant…

You begged me to sit in a tub of that other shit and I said naw. I refused to sit in any liquid that was not water. But Out of RESPECT for you and the artist you 'appear' to be, I Didn't wanna kill your concept , wanted u to at least get it out of your head . After all, u spent your dough on studio , trip to Dallas etc.. Sooo, I invited Nayrok , my lil sis and artist, who is much more liberal ,to be subject of those other disturbing (to me ) scenes . I told u from jump that I believed your concept to be disturbing. But would give your edit a chance.You then said u would take my shots ( in clear water/ fully covered parts -seemed harmless enough) and Nayrok's part ( which I was not present for but saw the photos and a sample scene of cornstarch dripping ) and edit them together along with cosmic, green screen images ( which no one saw) then would show me the edit.Instead, U disrespected me by releasing pics and rough vid on the internet without my approval. (Contract breech )

Badu ended her diatribe by asking Coyne to kiss her and her sister’s asses, and of course, he responded by saying he had, complete with a picture of glittery lips. As of press time, both artists are still Tweeting at each other and at each other’s fans, complaining in Coyne’s case about an overreaction and in Badu’s case about being gratuitous and classless.

You can take a look at the video in question below, which is, obviously, VERY NSFW.

Once again, Do NOT watch this video if you are at work…

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.