Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 02/01/2012 at 11:42 AM News

The Popdust Files: banned, bet, music videos, nicki minaj, stupid hoe

Really, the video for “Stupid Hoe” mostly just illustrates why the song was a weird choice for a single and video in the first place—the song is so friggin’ off the wall with its energy and general aggression that the video would have no choice but to match, and in the process invariably include something that was gonna upset somebody. We loved both song and video—still do—but we can’t say we’re terribly surprised to hear now that TMZ is reporting that BET has politely declined invitation to play the video on their channel, nor would we be surprised to hear about MTV and VH1 doing the same once they remember that they occasionally still play music videos.

So why did BET ban the Hype Williams-directed clip? Well, sources aren’t saying just yet, but we can probably narrow down the reasons to a few likely possibilities:

• ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS (ASS ASS ASS ASS). There’s enough in this video to even make Big Sean blush—not just of Nicki (and holy cow there’s still plenty of that to go around) but of some unspecified bare Barbie-like butt, shown in between rapid-fire cuts of Nicki’s snarling face, as if attempting to visually project your subconscious. Gotta draw the line somewhere, we suppose.
• What is it that we are, again? By our count, the phrase “stupid hoe” is used 49 times throughout “Stupid Hoe,” mostly as an unflattering label. It wouldn’t be the first time music video channels have had to get creative with song-wide censoring—if “Wait (The Whisper Song)” can get on TV, surely any song can—but when the bleeping and moaning and whatnot happens that much, maybe sometimes it’s not quite worth it.
• Women writhing in cages kind of a viewer turnoff these days? Then again, if that was really a problem, Shakira’s “She Wolf” probably would’ve been dead on arrival. Nicki’s not even wearing a flesh-colored bodysuit in this one.
• Epillepsy. If the song wasn’t enough of a mental assault, the video will almost certainly have anyone unable to cognitively process information for at least a week’s time. Anyone with a history of grand mals….maybe unplug the TV and internet just to be on the safe side.
• Creepy big eyes. Not since ‘Thriller” have a pair of pupils turned our stomach like this. The kids don’t need that.

[Billboard]