Top 10 Most Controversial Music Videos of the 21st Century
For this list, we're including music videos that were released during the 21st century and have generated controversy due to explicit content such as sex, violence, racism, sexism or blasphemy.
The images of Miley Cyrus swinging naked on a wrecking ball and licking a sledgehammer had everyone talking back in 2013.
The naked doubles of celebrities in the video had everybody talking.
Aside from the song's raunchy nature, which drew criticism from conservatives, the Kylie Jenner cameo in the video spread criticism. She was accused of cultural appropriation as she appeared alongside mostly Black celebrities. Some people and associations also took issue with the use of big cats in the video, most notably PETA.
This video received a huge amount of backlash from conservatives who considered it blasphemous, satanic, and harmful to children due to its recreation of biblical scenes, Lil Nas X doing a lap dance on Satan, its openly queer content, and also the Satan Shoes.
This song quickly became controversial due to its violent imitation of America and excessive use of blood and guns in the music video.
Two words: topless women. Also, Emily Ratajkowski, one of the models in the video, claimed to have been groped by Thicke while filming the video, tarnishing its legacy.
In this video, a soon-to-be-legal Miley Cyrus transitioned her image from Disney star to party girl. The twerking in this video was enough to generate controversy.
Not only is this song racist and a coded glorification of lynching, but its video features Aldean performing in front of the same courthouse where Henry Choate was lynched in 1927.
If this was made recently, with today's cancel culture, she'd be instantly canceled.
This video has been labeled as racist and offensive to the Japanese community due to the backup dancers looking so identical to each other and Avril mimicking what she thought of as "typical Japanese behavior."
This video has been censored due to the scene where Lil Nas X and his backup dancers are dancing naked in a shower.
The Newcomers
This is your typical "good-girl-gone-bad" music video that gets everyone talking. It features a beloved female star performing sexy dance routines and wearing almost nothing but a bikini.
The reception it received back in 2002 was harsh. Some people even slut-shamed Xtina for her new image. Before Miley's "Bangerz" era, there was Xtina's "Stripped" era.
The video for this song features sorority sisters at a frat party hosted by Lil Jon and RedFoo. The sisters do not want to drink and dance, which prompts Lil Jon to tell them to "STFU and dance." Upon release, the song and the video were deemed misogynistic by many viewers. RedFoo, on his side, defended the video as a satire and blamed female bloggers for starting the controversy.
This Madonna music video was only aired at night due to its excessive violence.
This graphic video shows a genocide of redheaded people and has been criticized for its extreme violence.
In this video, Jesy Nelson's skin appears to be darker than Nicki Minaj's, which caused Nelson to be accused of blackfishing.
At the beginning of the video, Rihanna shoots a man down with a gun at the train station in front of a scared crowd. As the video progresses, we find out that this man raped her, and she killed him as an act of retaliation.
A lot of people found the video to have a bad moral message, but some celebrities, such as Gabrielle Union (who is a rape survivor), praised it for being relatable.
Two girls kissing in the music video sparked massive outrage in Russia, where the duo is from.
This video has a lot of graphic sex scenes.
Seeing that title has scarred me enough. I don't even want to know about the music video.
The many twerking moments in the video had everybody talking.
This song and video came out when Kanye was having a very public meltdown in the midst of his divorce from Kim Kardashian, who had since been dating Pete Davidson. Not only is Ye rapping about "beating Pete Davidson's a**," but the claymation video actually shows him burying Pete Davidson's head. This video has received huge backlash, with some viewers calling it disturbing and emotional abuse.
I thought that the video for Famous was weird and creepy. This is a whole new level of messed up, though, and for no notable reason. A lot of people criticized early Eminem for his attacks on people, but at least he had actual reasons for hating them. He was also self-aware about how the situations he portrayed were not okay.
A scene where Beyoncé looks like she's going to give Jay-Z oral sex caused outrage among many viewers who petitioned for the video to be re-shot.
We can see some people actually dry-humping in the music video.
Madonna throws a hand grenade at a George W. Bush lookalike in this video. The controversy was so bad that the album of the same name flopped.
This video was disturbing for two big reasons. Erykah Badu not only gets naked in public, but she also gets shot, alluding to John F. Kennedy's death.
This music video is so cringey and super disgusting! It's just a bunch of unattractive men wearing speedos and wiggling their penises, which isn't "sexy" at all. I'd rather watch paint dry than watch this video.
The song was just okay, but that video was bad to watch for me. Plus, that "Girl, look at my body" chorus doesn't relate to the music video.
The overtly sexual content caused the video to be flagged multiple times on YouTube.
This video shows an extremely graphic sex reassignment surgery.
The song title is disgusting enough.
If you are extremely sensitive to blood, PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO!