The "banned video" is probably my least favorite media narrative, but since it provides an easy press bump for all involved I'm sure we'll keep seeing it again and again.
In this case we have Nicki Minaj "Stupid Hoe" and BET, which according to TMZ, has decided to pass on airing the video for officially unspecified reasons. It's probably because the video is full of isolated body shots and the hook is "Stupid Hoe," all of which could surely be edited out or scrubbed clean. Since the video has been out for nearly two weeks and already has 20+ million views on VEVO, I would guess it's better biz for all involved to just say it's banned: Big press pick-up, Nicki keeps her artistic cred, BET feels important, and VEVO gets a round of curiosity clips for the "explicit" version.
Interstingly, despite the massive viewcount, "Stupid Hoe" has twice as many "dislikes" as "likes", so maybe BET is onto something here and shouln't just resign themselves to reflecting the current musical culture.
PS: In Europe, we can probably expect another round of "banned" stories when it fails the Harding Test.
