Some music videos take on a whole new meaning in light of later revelations. Join us as we explore unsettling music videos that have become even more disturbing due to information that came to light after their release. From pop stars to rock legends, these clips now leave viewers feeling uncomfortable.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at music videos that are uncomfortable to
00:07watch in light of information that was later revealed.
00:14Age ain't nothing but a number, Aaliyah.
00:17Aaliyah made an incredible impact on the music industry before her tragic death at age 22.
00:24Unfortunately, we can't talk about her early career without talking about R. Kelly.
00:30The disgraced R&B star produced and was the primary songwriter for her debut album, Age
00:35ain't nothing but a number.
00:41The title track finds the teenaged Aaliyah pledging her devotion to someone evidently
00:45outside of her age range.
00:46Though Kelly is absent from the video, his uncomfortable presence is still felt, and
00:50knowing that he and teenaged Aaliyah were illegally married the year of the song's
00:54release just makes things worse.
01:01Deserve
01:02Kris Wu featuring Travis Scott
01:03The international pop community was stunned when Chinese-Canadian rapper and former EXO
01:08member Kris Wu was charged with and convicted on multiple counts of sexual assault.
01:19Having that knowledge makes this video, which portrays Wu as some kind of master seducer,
01:24all but unwatchable.
01:25And lyrics avowing his dominance over his partner certainly don't help matters either.
01:36Wu is currently serving a 13-year prison sentence for his crimes, and while this video doesn't
01:40explicitly out him as a predator, any possible feeling of romance or seduction is gone.
01:45Instead, the primary feeling is overwhelming disgust.
01:54Crazy
01:55Aerosmith
01:56There's a lot to unpack here.
01:58This video casts Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler's daughter, Liv, alongside Alicia
02:02Silverstone as two truant schoolgirls who get into all sorts of mischief.
02:12Even setting aside the familial aspect, Liv Tyler was only 16 years old at the time, and
02:17the video has her doing some rather grown-up things.
02:24Furthermore, decades earlier, her father became the legal guardian of 16-year-old Julia Holcomb,
02:33referring to her in his memoir as his partner in crimes of passion.
02:37In 2022, Holcomb, now known as Julia Miseley, named the rocker in a lawsuit citing grooming
02:43and abuse.
02:44As such, it's hard to see this video as particularly empowering.
02:51Blurred Lines
02:52Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell.
02:54In seemingly the blink of an eye, Blurred Lines went from being a number one hit to
02:58being widely reviled.
03:07The unsettling implications of the lyrics did arguably the most damage, but the crass
03:10video certainly did not help, nor did Robin Thicke's reported conduct on set.
03:17In 2021, model Emily Ratajkowski, who's featured in the video, alleged that Thicke
03:22sexually harassed her during filming, a claim backed up by the video's director, Diane
03:27Martell.
03:32Given that the song has been maligned for being seen as promoting boundary violation,
03:36hearing about this only makes it all the more irredeemable.
03:42Happy Hour
03:43Jazzy Pha featuring CeeLo Green.
03:45In the early 2010s, musician CeeLo Green went from being a star to being a pariah with his
03:50conviction for spiking a woman's drink with ecstasy.
03:57While this song and video, made in collaboration with Memphis artist Jazzy Pha, is nowhere
04:05near as popular as songs like Crazy or Forget You, it's pretty discomfiting in retrospect.
04:12Why?
04:13Well, it's about encouraging women to loosen up with some drinks, and it features CeeLo
04:19Green.
04:26Even though he's just the featured artist, it doesn't undo the disconcerting connotations.
04:35Give It To Me Baby, Rick James.
04:37Chappelle's show helped to briefly revitalize his career by humorously recounting debaucherous
04:42moments in his life.
04:44However, there are aspects of Rick James' life that can't be mined for laughs.
04:55His legacy is tarnished by multiple allegations of sexual assault, including a case where
04:59he was sentenced to prison for holding a woman hostage for six days with his girlfriend.
05:03Being aware of all of that makes this song and video, which finds James demanding intimacy
05:08from his partner, incredibly off-putting.
05:13It might have seemed playful at the time, but seeing James incessantly touch and hound
05:16a woman resisting his advances now, it's hard to give him the benefit of the doubt.
05:26Catholic Schoolgirls Rule, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
05:29As with Aerosmith, this is a case of an artist literally telling on himself.
05:36While on tour in Louisiana, then-23-year-old Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis had
05:41an inappropriate relationship with a teenaged Catholic schoolgirl.
05:44Then, he wrote this song about the experience.
05:49Kiedis freely admitted to this in his memoir, and he's largely managed to escape anything
05:53in the way of consequence for it.
05:57The song's video matches its lyrics, with its portrayal of rebellious Catholic schoolgirls,
06:01but the carefree mode is irrevocably sullied by being aware of just how heinous its inspiration
06:06was.
06:10Murder on My Mind, YNW Melly.
06:13In 2019, rising Florida rapper YNW Melly made headlines, not for his music, but for his
06:19double homicide charge in a still-pending case that sees him accused of killing two
06:23of his friends.
06:28To make a bleak situation worse, Melly's breakout single was entitled Murder on My
06:31Mind, and the video sees Melly clutching various firearms while talking about the lethal thoughts
06:36preoccupying him.
06:42While plenty of artists have cast themselves as killers in their songs for the sake of
06:46artistic license, you can't watch this video without thinking of the charges that Melly
06:49would soon face.
06:55Satisfy You, Puff Daddy ft. R. Kelly.
06:58The reputations of both Sean Combs and R. Kelly were destroyed in recent years, with
07:03the revelation that they had both allegedly used their power and influence to cause unspeakable
07:08harm to multiple people.
07:14Kelly is currently serving a 31-year prison sentence for his crimes, while Combs is currently
07:18awaiting trial on a multitude of federal charges.
07:21Does that get anyone in the mood to watch a video for a song that casts these two as
07:25experts in the art of romance?
07:29A video of this type featuring just one of them will be bad enough.
07:32With both, it just reaches a new level of unintended ickiness.
07:58A Town Called Hypocrisy, Lost Profits.
08:02Welsh rock band Lost Profits had their image permanently tarnished upon the news of Frontman
08:06and Watkins' unspeakable acts involving minors.
08:12Upon learning of this stomach-churning news, you might have recalled this video, which
08:15casts Watkins as the host of a children's TV program.
08:19We hope we don't need to explain why that's so utterly repulsive, especially given the
08:22innuendo and suggestiveness hiding in plain sight in this video.
08:32And seeing Watkins cheekily act like someone who cares about the well-being of the youth
08:36is horrifying in retrospect.
08:38A Town Called Hypocrisy, try a video called Unwatchable.
08:46What wholesome music video are you going to watch now?
08:49Let us know in the comments!