According to a report from TMZ, a rep from BET has said that, for reasons undisclosed, the video for Nicki Minaj’s “Stupid Hoe” will not be broadcast on the network. The report also said that the unofficial word from the inside is that it’s just not fit for television.
To be fair, the Hype Williams-directed clip is a little seizure-inducing, and Nicki’s bulging, animated eyes are enough to inspire a nightmare or two. The last hook, in which she basically says, “fuck a stupid hoe” a billion times, would basically be one long beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. And, okay, there are a few butts involved. But this kind of stuff hasn’t stopped music television before, has it? Or television in general? (Besides, with the scantily-clad-girl-in-a-cage bit, this video is just Shakira’s “She Wolf,” but re-imagined in Nicki Minaj’s hot pink, plastic spazz-robot world.) Furthermore, we seem to recall Missy Elliott’s “She’s a Bitch,” another explicitly titled, freaky Hype-directed lady rapper vid, doing pretty well on TV back in 1999, no?
What’s behind BET’s decision? SPIN broke down the clip in search of offensive material:
Times Nicki Minaj says the word “hoe” in “Stupid Hoe”: 52
Times Nicki says the word “fuck”: 10
Seconds a plastic mannequin’s butt is depicted in the video (strobed or not): 12 (0:48-0:58, 1:10-1:12)
Seconds Nicki Minaj’s butt is depicted in the video (strobed or not): 10 (2:43-2:48, 3:07-3:10, 3:12-3:14)
Percent of the 3:30 video that is besieged by butts: 10.4%
We’re not sure whether this is BET making a stand against the objectification of women in mainstream media (probably not), or whether this is simply a case of “there’s no way this song would make sense if we bleeped Nicki every time she said the word ‘hoe’,” but we will point out this isn’t the first time BET has banned a video outright — remember Ciara’s “Ride”?
