13 of the Most Controversial Music Videos Ever
From Kanye West to Madonna, these gory and graphic clips got people talking — for better or for worse.
Music videos are a perfect opportunity to expand the story of a song.
The best music videos can showcase killer choreography, Halloween-ready attire, or movie levels of cinematic gold; others can spark controversies, no matter how well-intended. Whether centered around copious bloodshed or near-pornographic nudity (sorry, Mom and Dad), there's one thing all controversial music videos have in common: They get people talking.
Here are 13 music videos released over the past 30-plus years that have sparked disputes. Watch at your own risk.
Nine Inch Nails, “Closer”
Nine Inch Nails' video for their breakout hit "Closer" is set in a Victorian-era mad scientist lab, with a plethora of images intended to shock. From a crucified monkey to diagrams of genitalia and frontman Trent Reznor sporting fetish gear, it's a lot to handle.
▲Madonna, “Like a Prayer”
"Like a Prayer" took a twist on many tropes of Christianity, like, uh, hooking up with a Saint and dancing suggestively in front of multiple burning crosses. Pope John Paul II encouraged people to boycott Madonna altogether in Italy.
▲Robin Thicke, “Blurred Lines”
The lyrics of Robin Thicke's hit "Blurred Lines" spurred plenty of disputes about the mistreatment of women, and the sexed-up video just added fuel to the fire. A suited Thicke and Pharrell Williams are seen hanging out around scantily clad women; Emily Ratajkowski is prominently featured, often topless. A few years after the video's release, Ratajkowski called "Blurred Lines" "the bane of [her] existence."
▲Nirvana, “Heart-Shaped Box”
Kurt Cobain's plan for "Heart-Shaped Box" was a little all over the place. Among other things, the trippy, surreal clip shows a young girl in Ku Klux Klan attire picking dangling fetuses from a tree.
▲Erykah Badu, “Window Seat”
For her "Window Seat" music video, Dallas native Erykah Badu took a walk through her hometown. The single-shot clip focuses on Badu stripping her clothes until she's fully undressed. She's then "shot dead" in the same place John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Badu has said the video was intended to be a statement against "groupthink," or "the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility." She said she never intended to disrespect JFK.
▲Kanye West, "Famous"
With "Famous," Kanye was begging to start some drama: "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b*tch famous," he raps, referencing his long-time feud with Miss Swift. To the shock of fans on both sides, she appears nude in the "Famous" music video—in wax-figure form, of course—beside Kanye in a ginormous bed. Inanimate models of Anna Wintour, Rihanna, Amber Rose, Caitlyn Jenner, and more can also be seen. It feels a little invasive, to say the least.
▲M.I.A., “Born Free”
M.I.A. has spent her entire career being outspoken on issues of war and violence. But the cinematic video for "Born Free" flipped the typical script, depicting SWAT team members wrangling up all redheaded people and brutally killing them in a genocide. It's violent enough to make Tarantino's jaw drop, but it also shows the power of controversial material done right.
▲Childish Gambino, “This Is America”
On a similar note as "Born Free," Donald Glover's "This Is America" is a hypnotic masterpiece of a video that called much-needed attention to gun violence in the United States—particularly as it pertains to police brutality against black people. Though it's incredibly shocking and can be difficult to stomach, watching "This Is America" multiple times is a necessity in order to appreciate its genius; so many Easter eggs are hidden throughout the clip that it's impossible to take in all the crucial details in one viewing.
▲Björk, "pagan poetry (uncensored)"
Released in 2001, this video scandalized MTV viewers around the world. Notorious for her innovative approach to art, Björk took things to a new level when she released this video, which is full of sexual footage and graphic images of the artist piercing her own skin with needles and pearls. Now, it's small potatoes thanks to the prevalence of graphic content online, but back then the video was banned on MTV in the US.
▲Eminem, "Stan"
Let it never be forgotten that the origin of the word "stan"—now used to refer to any overzealous fan—was born of a very controversial video from another king of controversy, Eminem. The Stan video, which features Dido, tells the story of a fan obsessed with Eminem who (spoiler alert) ends up losing his mind and killing his pregnant wife after she fails to understand his adoration for Slim Shady. Stan culture, come claim your own. Heavily censored during its time, the video was far from Eminem's worst controversy, but its cultural resonance and longevity shows it managed to get under some people's skin.
▲Madonna, "Like A Virgin"
Long before there was WAP, Madonna was horrifying everyone by parading around her very much non-virginal status in the "Like A Virgin" video. The video, which takes place in Venice, features gondolas, singing men, and plenty of sexy, scandalous dance moves from Madonna.
Lush with symbolism—a wedding dress for purity, a lion for strength—the video horrified people because of Madonna's rather promiscuous actions. The controversy only grew more intense after the first MTV Music Video Awards, when Madonna sported a wedding dress and a "Boy Toy" belt and rolled around on the floor as she performed this song. Abstinence advocates were horrified. Little did they know what the next few decades would hold...
▲Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion, "WAP"
This music video isn't controversial as much as it's become a parody of controversy, an example of just how offensive people find female sexuality when it's being enjoyed and broadcast by women themselves. Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B's triumphant feminist album sparked a dance challenge on TikTok where listeners—mostly young people—would perform the dance in front of their parents, who would often become increasingly scandalized as the song went on. By the time Meg's verse hit, most of the parents would have stormed off (though a few cool ones started dancing along).
The video also caused some unwelcome controversy for those who tried to use it innocently—including a man named County Supervisor Ryan Clancy, who used the video to spread awareness about another kind of WAP: The Weatherization Assistance Program. This WAP helps low-income people save money by retrofitting their houses for energy efficiency during the winter.
Clancy shared a still from the video with the caption "There's some holes in this house." He later issued an apology, but clarified that the post was intended to "draw attention to both this excellent program and to a song which has at its core a message about empowerment, reclaiming and destigmatization."
▲Lil Nas X, "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)"
Two years after making history with "Old Town Road," Lil Nas X again made headlines with "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," an ode to queer love. While the song's title is a reference to the serene film adaptation that made Timotheé Chalamet a star, the "Montero" music video is decidedly darker, as Lil Nas X descends through the layers of hell on a giant stripper pole. Upon arrival, the rapper/singer celebrates his queer identity the best way he knows how: giving Satan himself a lap dance.
Naturally, conservative politicians, QAnon users, and Fox News correspondents weren't thrilled by the Satanic imagery and allusions to gay sex in the "Montero" clip. But — staying true to his origins as the founder of a popular Nicki Minaj fan account — Lil Nas X was able to smartly shut down accusations that he was brainwashing children and promoting Satanism. "There is a mass shooting every week that our government does nothing to stop," he wrote on Twitter. "Me sliding down a CGI pole isn't what's destroying society."
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