10 Banned Hard Rock Music Videos
4. Rammstein - Pussy
When it comes to controversy, Rammstein might just well be the kings of “just about getting away with it”. They’ve had run-ins with various kinds of bans from music videos to even having albums restricted in their home country of Germany, but none come to mind quicker than the video clip for 2009’s Pussy.
So explicit is the video that, pre-empting the reaction, the band premiered it on an online pornography website rather than television. Pussy features the sextet dressing up as several classic adult movie tropes such as the “playboy” or “CEO” and seemingly having their way - extremely explicitly - with female pornstars.
It’s all very tongue-and-cheek and the band uses CGI to drop their heads onto the bodies of male performers to make it look frighteningly real. Music video carriers didn’t see the funny side and, not all that shockingly, refused to play it. The YouTube version unsurprisingly remains today a fleshy-coloured blur.
Worse yet, former anti-corruption politician Alexei Navalny got into hot water by sharing it on the Russian social network VKontakte. Originally threatened with prison time, the sentence was reduced to 400 hours of community service for “distribution of pornography”. Yikes.