What Janet Hath Wrought

After the Super Bowl brouhaha petrified broadcasters, artists are backing off edgier fare

BRITNEY SPEARS Oops! Fearing it could be "misinterpreted as suicide," Spears scrapped a bathtub drowning scene from her video for Everytime, a song about Justin Timberlake.

ALANIS MORISSETTE Though they bleeped a similar obscenity in 1995, skittish radio stations wanted Morissette to remove a word from her single. She changed it to "nightmare."

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE MTV (!) forced the band to cut a scene with a girl mouthing the words to its song Mexican Wine because, said an MTV rep, "we never allow underage drinking."

...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!