Kings of Leon's new "Pyro" video is pretty bleak: a dank bar packed with lonely drunks, abusive boyfriends, and one quite sad stripper (note the man with oxygen tubes in his nose receiving assistance with his beer at the 1:26 mark. Yeesh). And yet somehow the casting notice for the clip, posted on New York's Craiglist in November, is even more depressing: "All characters with the exception of our hero need to look like life has beaten them up a bit. Scars, pockmarked skin, physical abnormalities or deformities are welcomed!!!!" Give us your tired, your poor... your huddled masses yearning to star in a Kings of Leon video.
Some people found this advertisement offensive. And evidently, so did the Kings of Leon. "We were really embarrassed about it but we had nothing to do with it," guitarist Matthew Followill told the Sun (we checked with the band's reps, and he really did tell this to the not-always-reliable Sun). "It was the casting company we were using for our 'Pyro' video. They put it out and as soon as we read it we were humiliated and phoned the managers. We were furious."
Watch the clip now and spot the following characters: the "unattractive" and "unloved" Simple Girl who might be "a little slow," and the Sad Girl with a "REAL facial deformity/abnormality or scarring." Shockingly, the Hero is simply a good-looking dude. Go figure.