Bono is sorry for giving you that free U2 album

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Last month, Apple marked the release of its new iPhone by giving every person who uses its iTunes platform a free copy of U2's new album, Songs of Innocence.

It's the kind of gesture that rankles the internet, which never receives a gift horse without looking it in the mouth. After a string of angry op-eds and countless complaints, Bono has finally apologized for foisting the album on unsuspecting iTunes users.

"Oops. I'm sorry about that," said Bono during a recent Facebook Q&A. "I had this beautiful idea and we got carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that kind of thing. Drop of megalomania, touch of generosity, dash of self-promotion, and deep fear that these songs that we poured our life into over the last few years mightn't be heard. There's a lot of noise out there. I guess we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it."

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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.