Questlove, Song Choices, and NBC

I find this hard to believe, but supposedly Questlove's song choices on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon now have to be approved by three different NBC executives.

From the New York Post:

Questlove has been ordered to have his song choices approved by NBC honchos after his musical attack on Michele Bachmann, when his band the Roots played the opening of “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” as she walked on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” Talking to Rolling Stone before the incident, Questlove admitted he was planning the number. “I’m gunning for Bachmann,” he said. “I want to try and do Fishbone’s ‘Lyin’ Ass Bitch.’ I just don’t know if I’m going to tell Jimmy.” (He says Fallon has vetoed only one song, “She Blinded Me With Science,” for Katie Holmes. Questlove laughed, “That would have been good.”) While Bachmann didn’t object on camera, the lyrical diss caused a huge stir and NBC had to apologize. Questlove tells the magazine he was awakened by a 9 a.m. call the next morning summoning him to 30 Rock, where he was told he must clear every song with three different NBC execs, and he was forbidden to tweet about the incident. “It was a real bummer,” Fallon told Rolling Stone. “We don’t want to censor anyone, but . . . I don’t know. Maybe Questlove is a Romney guy.”

So Jimmy Fallon vetoed "She Blinded Me With Science" for Katie Holmes.

I think that was wise. But it does make me wonder why Fallon knew about that yet supposedly didn't know about "Lyin' Ass Bitch" for Michele Bachmann.

Given Questlove's political allegiance to Obama and Democrats, Fallon must have been interested in knowing what The Roots planned to play for Bachmann's introduction.

Maybe he trusted Questlove to do the right thing and felt he didn't need to inquire.

What's weird is why he knew about the mean shot Quest wanted to take at Katie Holmes. How did that come about if it's not regular procedure to rehearse the intro songs and for Fallon to know the choices?

Also, the statement that he only vetoed one of Quest's choices suggests that Fallon does indeed know the songs for the intros.

Why the lapse in Bachmann's case?

It's hard to believe that Fallon didn't realize he had reason to worry about the song choice for Bachmann.

Anyway, I highly doubt that NBC is really monitoring Quest's song choices to the extent reported.

If it's true, I'm sure it won't last very long.

This really was an unfortunate episode, albeit eye-opening. I thought Late Night was an oasis of good-natured humor, no mean-spirited stuff. Obviously, that's not the case. I was wrong about Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.