Flaming Lips Apologize for Releasing Video Without Erykah Badu’s Consent

This is awkward. Flaming Lips leader Wayne Coyne has drawn the ire of R&B diva Erykah Badu for releasing a fleshy video of her and her sister — and now he’s begging her forgiveness.

Here’s the dish: Badu got with the Lips to do a trippy bathtub scene for ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.’ The video — now seemingly disappeared from the internet — featured glitter, milk, and a whole lot of Badu and her sister Nayrok’s skin.

The video went up on Pitchfork and was taken down the next day. And Badu was twit-peeved, as we reported yesterday.

And so the Lips, not seeking to lose their Heady Fwends, released this statement:

“The video link that was erroneously posted on Pitchfork by the Flaming Lips of the Music Video ‘The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face’, which features Erykah Badu, is unedited and unapproved.. Sorry!! We, the Flaming Lips, accept full responsibility for prematurely having Pitchfork post it. It has outraged and upset a segment of fans and we apologize if we offended any viewers!!! This is a Flaming Lips video which  features Erykah Badu and her sister Nayrok and is not meant to be considered an Erykah Badu or Nayrok statement, creation, or approved version.”

Earlier this week, Coyne tweeted a fountain of apologies, reiterating that the video is a Flaming Lips video, not an Erykah Badu statement. A bit funny to hear that, as it’s not Coyne who was was naked in a bathtub. He reminded the offended “conservative audience” that the video was intended for mature audiences. Yet it’s Badu that’s upset, and she, clearly, is not right-leaning.

The feud has blown up on the media, getting mentions on Time and the Wall Street Journal: enough to cause suspicion that the whole row was a calculated publicity coup.

Regardless, this once-delicious tweet fight is growing a bit dull — with Coyne himself getting frustrated with the furor: “Well yeah!! We obviously barged into Erykahs house while she was taking a bath and made her sing the song while we filmed it!! It was wrong.”

PR stunt or not, we’re still left with one question: When do we get to see that video again?