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Censored in 2005

robin williams

While 2005 was plenty of fun, it did have the misfortune to follow censorship panic-laden 2004: the year of Janet's boob. Some of that backlash continued on into 2005 and kept pulses racing, censors fainting and corporate sponsors dropping the axe.

Without further ado, the top five censored moments of 2005:

Censored in :: williams_censored-1

Robin Williams at the Academy Awards

Amid rumors that cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants was promoting a homosexual agenda, comedian Robin Williams worked up quite a routine for the 77th Annual Academy Awards. The comic went to 'Hairspray' songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and asked them to put together a song for the telecast lampooning the whole affair (Shaiman wrote the music to Williams' 'Blame Canada' in 2000). Williams was taken completely by surprise when the song, "Stink Beneath the Ink," was axed by show organizers two days before the broadcast.

However, the irrepressible Williams did manage to get his song out to the masses by performing it for
Jay Leno on 'The Tonight Show' a few days later. Among the banned lyrics:

"Pinocchio's had his nose done, Sleeping Beauty's popping pills
The Three Little Pigs aren't kosher, Betty Boop works Beverly Hills.
Superman is hooked on steroids, Tinky Wink (sic) is in the pink
Damn it to hell, wake up and smell the stink beneath the ink.
Chip 'n' Dale both are strippers, Scrooge McDuck is really tight
Bugs Bunny's a cross-dresser, Snow White has been up all night.
There's something fishy about Nemo, Batman & Robin share a sink
Winnie the Pooh, we know what he's into. The stink beneath the ink."

Audio
Songwriter Marc Shaiman's demo version of 'Stink Beneath the Ink'

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Robin Williams


Kanye West on MTV

Although his most famous outburst of 2005 (on NBC's Katrina telethon) wasn't censored at all, outspoken rapper Kanye West did have his share of artistic troubles to overcome. MTV and many FM radio stations censored many of his most popular songs including 'All Falls Down' and 'Gold Digger.' Speaking to the Detroit Free Press, Kanye commented on his 'controversial' lyrics, saying, "On MTV, when they played 'All Falls Down,' they bleep out where it says 'And the white man gets paid off of all of that.' And on Canadian radio, I found out that on 'Gold Digger,' they bleep out when I say 'Leave your ass for a white girl.' I understand the word 'ass.' But white girl? That line would only be offensive to black guys that left their black girlfriends for white women. But I don't have anything against interracial relationships. If that's what you want to do, that's what you're going to do. I just talked about it."

Music videos

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Kanye West

'The Aristocrats' Banned From AMC

One of the biggest surprises of 2005 was an insider's look at the craft of stand-up comedy, a shockingly offensive documentary called 'The Aristocrats.' The film features 100 of the top comedians in the world all telling the same joke, while delighting in who can deliver it in the absolute raunchiest way possible. In the course of exploring the filthiest way to tell the joke, a clear picture develops about what Americans find funny and what Americans find uncomfortable.

Unfortunately for 'The Aristocrats,' the national theater chain AMC refused to show the movie in any of its 3,500-plus screens. The theater company tried to avoid an overt ban, by claiming the film had a very limited appeal, causing comedian and co-producer Penn Jillette to comment to MSNBC, "It's the kind of thing that makes you go 'Come on, play fair.' It's not like we're trying to slide this by anybody by calling it 'Love Bug 2: Herbie Takes It Up the A--'."

Video
'Aristocrats' Trailer

Pamela Anderson's Pole Dance

The blonde bombshell made headlines recently when she was summarily cut out of an NBC broadcast of the Elton John special 'Elton John: The Red Piano.' But just two days before, the network had sent out preview copies of the program to media outlets and critics, making the omission rather blatant. The number in question featured Anderson pole dancing wearing a G-string and silver pasties.

In reponse to the uproar, NBC released the following statement: "We believed the content was not appropriate for 8PM / 7 Central time and decided to pull the song from the special." The opinions of millions of teenage boys notwithstanding, they may have been onto something.

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Pam Anderson

Paris Hilton's Carl's Jr. Commercial

Without a doubt, the top censored moment in 2005 was the short run of the infamous Carl's Jr. Paris Hilton spot. In the ad for Carl's BBQ Six Dollar Burger, the lithesome heiress lathered herself in suds and most of America into a frenzy as she redefined "hotness" for whole a generation of hamburglers to come.

While only a 30-second version of the ad enjoyed a brief television run, the hubbub was so great that Carl's Jr. parent corporation, CKE Restaurants, put up a website devoted to the full, uncut 60-second version of the spot which was deemed far too hot for TV at SpicyParis.com. Oh, and then there was the parody (also on the same above web page), which we found almost as entertaining.

Video
The 30-second version of Paris' commerical

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Paris Hilton