they’re the kind of moments that keep
network executives up at night fearing
the worst while hoping for the best
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
most controversial TV moments before we
begin we publish new videos every day so
be sure to subscribe for more great
content for this list we’re looking at
both scripted scenes from TV shows and
unrehearsed or unexpected TV moments
that generated controversy some of the
content discussed may be offensive to
some viewers and in some entries delve
into plot points from later seasons of
shows so both mature content and spoiler
warnings are now in effect
and you could have stopped it and I
could have Justin Foley could have and a
dozen other people at least number 10
Putin’s coal stir The Late Show with
Stephen Colbert Stephen Colbert managed
to do something quite unlikely he pissed
off Trump supporters and the lgbtq+
community with the same joke when
responding to president Trump’s
treatment of CBS journalist John
Dickerson The Late Show host went on a
rant that culminated in a punchline that
implied that Trump was only useful at
performing oral sex on Russian President
Vladimir Putin the only thing your mouth
is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s
pollster Colbert later apologized to the
lgbtq+ community for his choice of words
but made it clear he did not feel bad
about offending the president whose
supporters had called for his
cancellation and rejoiced in Trump
personally criticizing him for the joke
the president of the United States has
personally come after me and my show and
there’s only one thing to say
number nine the wardrobe malfunction
Superbowl 38 in 2004 Justin Timberlake
was a surprise guest closing off the MTV
produced Super Bowl halftime show
starring Janet Jackson at the end of
their duet to drive home the songs
sexually charged lyrics JT ripped at
Jackson’s top that much was clearly
planned what wasn’t planned was that he
accidentally exposed her right nipple in
the process Timberlake and Jackson
insisted it was an accident
or wardrobe malfunction while others
speculate it must have been an
intentional publicity stunt was this
kind I was sort of dumbfounded at how
crucified the whole thing was following
the incident the FCC cracked down on TV
and tried unsuccessfully to find CBS who
aired the game five hundred and fifty
thousand dollars number eight Hannah’s
suicide 13 reasons why this popular
Netflix series is controversial overall
due to its primary subject matter of
teen suicide which some experts accuse
the show of glorifying others argue that
it doesn’t do enough to show why main
character Hannah’s decision to take her
own life is wrong and warned teens who
have dealt with sexual assault and
suicidal thoughts against watching the
series on top of that the scene where
Hannah actually kills herself is
particularly graphic as it depicts her
slitting her wrists with a razor blade
in a bathtub followed by her mother
finding her body number 7 the addiction
demon rape American Horror Story
American Horror Story isn’t a tame show
by any standard but one scene at the
beginning of their 2015 2016 Hotel
season stands out as particularly
gruesome a heroin addict named Gabriel
gets high in a seedy hotel room and no
sooner than he shoots up a strange
creature with no discernible facial
features wearing a strap-on dildo
emerges from the shadows and proceeds to
rape him this is not implied either it’s
shown on screen in graphic detail
while it may seem to have been done for
shock value alone the show’s creator
insists it was meant to depict how
addiction feels number 6 incest the
x-files
it’s an episode centered on a family of
murderers a family where one of the
three brothers is father to the other
two also their limbless mother is stored
under a bed until she’s pulled out for
sex and when the inevitable happens and
is carried to term the incestuous clan
buries the baby and believe it or not
this storyline aired on a major u.s.
network in primetime
well once anyway before it was banned
for several years this is by far the
most gruesome and disturbing x-files
episode no Lex OVA syndrome Michael
Gruber syndrome s trophy of the quake I
mean I don’t even know where to begin
the peacock family hasn’t shown up since
on the program and probably won’t ever
again
number 5 Ramsay rapes Sansa Game of
Thrones beheadings child murder and even
sexual violence are all par for the
course on this series there is one scene
however that had many longtime fans
saying the show had gone too far in a
season 5 episode Ramsay Bolton rapes
Sansa Stark on their wedding night and
makes Theon Greyjoy watch
[Music]
while it wasn’t as graphic as it could
have been many found it gratuitous and
unnecessary given that the scene did not
happen in the books it even prompted one
site to stop covering the series
entirely Sansa did get her revenge on
Ramsey the following season but for many
the damage had already been done
number 4 mods abortion mod as a spin-off
of all in the family one of the most
controversial shows of its day it’s no
surprise that mod also took on some very
sensitive subject matter Coon but while
all in the families Archie Bunker was
controversial for his racism and
homophobia mod turned heads due to her
feminism and outspoken liberal values
one episode that caused quite a stir was
the two-parter mods dilemma wherein mod
discovers she’s pregnant
and after much deliberation decides to
have an abortion when you were young
abortion was a dirty word it’s not
anymore
you think about that the episodes
original airing caused nearly 7,000
protest letters and even got the
attention of the United States Catholic
Conference number 3
censoring Mohammed South Park always
ones to poke the bear South Park
produced two episodes primarily dealing
with censoring the image of the Prophet
Muhammed due to threats of violence from
extremists okay what if we cover his
face with a paper bag
no because you still be showing him a
walk around that could it be a to travel
in a possibly ironic twist Trey Parker
and Matt Stone received real threats of
violence and in response Comedy Central
decided to censor the second episodes
visual depiction of Muhammad while many
thought this was part of the joke seeing
as how Parker and stone had their
Mohammed where a bear costume in the
first episode
it wasn’t Comedy Central’s censorship of
an episode about censorship
did help drive Parker and stones point
home though if you don’t want to be made
fun of anymore
all you need are guns and
to get people to stop number two Ellen’s
coming out Ellen Ellen are you coming
out or not Ellen DeGeneres’s sexual
orientation is common knowledge today
but in the 90s a major American sitcom
having an openly gay lead actor let
alone lead character was a rarity to say
the least
that was until DeGeneres came out
publicly in real life with her character
Ellen Morgan following suit Susan I’m
gay
while the highly publicized coming-out
episode was a ratings winner the show
was cancelled a year later
some argue due to the controversy the
episode created Ellen celebrated the
20th anniversary of her coming out on
her talk show with guests Oprah Winfrey
and Laura Dern who were both part of the
original episode why because you don’t
have to fight for anyone to embrace you
and say how wonderful you have a family
and children before we unveil our number
one pick here are some honorable
mentions in the victory of good fight
the real enemy you macho pussies started
hey there’s a guy fucking the Puerto
Rican flag oh who is burning the flag
number one bill says the n-word Real
Time with Bill Maher Bill Maher is no
stranger to controversy and when he’s
under fire he typically doubles down and
never apologizes that was until he made
an off-the-cuff joke during an interview
with u.s. senator Ben Sasse we’d love to
have you work in the fields with us
working the fetch bo yanked the clip and
more issue Dan apology the next day but
the outcry and calls for Mars
cancellation continued in his following
episode Mara was joined by guests Ice
Cube and Simone Sanders who not only
explained to him exactly why what he
said was a huge problem but also that
this was a teachable moment and so for a
lot of people in America that was like a
slap in the face to black America
particularly to black women do you agree
with our picks check out these other
great clips from WatchMojo and subscribe
for new videos every day
network executives up at night fearing
the worst while hoping for the best
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
most controversial TV moments before we
begin we publish new videos every day so
be sure to subscribe for more great
content for this list we’re looking at
both scripted scenes from TV shows and
unrehearsed or unexpected TV moments
that generated controversy some of the
content discussed may be offensive to
some viewers and in some entries delve
into plot points from later seasons of
shows so both mature content and spoiler
warnings are now in effect
and you could have stopped it and I
could have Justin Foley could have and a
dozen other people at least number 10
Putin’s coal stir The Late Show with
Stephen Colbert Stephen Colbert managed
to do something quite unlikely he pissed
off Trump supporters and the lgbtq+
community with the same joke when
responding to president Trump’s
treatment of CBS journalist John
Dickerson The Late Show host went on a
rant that culminated in a punchline that
implied that Trump was only useful at
performing oral sex on Russian President
Vladimir Putin the only thing your mouth
is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s
pollster Colbert later apologized to the
lgbtq+ community for his choice of words
but made it clear he did not feel bad
about offending the president whose
supporters had called for his
cancellation and rejoiced in Trump
personally criticizing him for the joke
the president of the United States has
personally come after me and my show and
there’s only one thing to say
number nine the wardrobe malfunction
Superbowl 38 in 2004 Justin Timberlake
was a surprise guest closing off the MTV
produced Super Bowl halftime show
starring Janet Jackson at the end of
their duet to drive home the songs
sexually charged lyrics JT ripped at
Jackson’s top that much was clearly
planned what wasn’t planned was that he
accidentally exposed her right nipple in
the process Timberlake and Jackson
insisted it was an accident
or wardrobe malfunction while others
speculate it must have been an
intentional publicity stunt was this
kind I was sort of dumbfounded at how
crucified the whole thing was following
the incident the FCC cracked down on TV
and tried unsuccessfully to find CBS who
aired the game five hundred and fifty
thousand dollars number eight Hannah’s
suicide 13 reasons why this popular
Netflix series is controversial overall
due to its primary subject matter of
teen suicide which some experts accuse
the show of glorifying others argue that
it doesn’t do enough to show why main
character Hannah’s decision to take her
own life is wrong and warned teens who
have dealt with sexual assault and
suicidal thoughts against watching the
series on top of that the scene where
Hannah actually kills herself is
particularly graphic as it depicts her
slitting her wrists with a razor blade
in a bathtub followed by her mother
finding her body number 7 the addiction
demon rape American Horror Story
American Horror Story isn’t a tame show
by any standard but one scene at the
beginning of their 2015 2016 Hotel
season stands out as particularly
gruesome a heroin addict named Gabriel
gets high in a seedy hotel room and no
sooner than he shoots up a strange
creature with no discernible facial
features wearing a strap-on dildo
emerges from the shadows and proceeds to
rape him this is not implied either it’s
shown on screen in graphic detail
while it may seem to have been done for
shock value alone the show’s creator
insists it was meant to depict how
addiction feels number 6 incest the
x-files
it’s an episode centered on a family of
murderers a family where one of the
three brothers is father to the other
two also their limbless mother is stored
under a bed until she’s pulled out for
sex and when the inevitable happens and
is carried to term the incestuous clan
buries the baby and believe it or not
this storyline aired on a major u.s.
network in primetime
well once anyway before it was banned
for several years this is by far the
most gruesome and disturbing x-files
episode no Lex OVA syndrome Michael
Gruber syndrome s trophy of the quake I
mean I don’t even know where to begin
the peacock family hasn’t shown up since
on the program and probably won’t ever
again
number 5 Ramsay rapes Sansa Game of
Thrones beheadings child murder and even
sexual violence are all par for the
course on this series there is one scene
however that had many longtime fans
saying the show had gone too far in a
season 5 episode Ramsay Bolton rapes
Sansa Stark on their wedding night and
makes Theon Greyjoy watch
[Music]
while it wasn’t as graphic as it could
have been many found it gratuitous and
unnecessary given that the scene did not
happen in the books it even prompted one
site to stop covering the series
entirely Sansa did get her revenge on
Ramsey the following season but for many
the damage had already been done
number 4 mods abortion mod as a spin-off
of all in the family one of the most
controversial shows of its day it’s no
surprise that mod also took on some very
sensitive subject matter Coon but while
all in the families Archie Bunker was
controversial for his racism and
homophobia mod turned heads due to her
feminism and outspoken liberal values
one episode that caused quite a stir was
the two-parter mods dilemma wherein mod
discovers she’s pregnant
and after much deliberation decides to
have an abortion when you were young
abortion was a dirty word it’s not
anymore
you think about that the episodes
original airing caused nearly 7,000
protest letters and even got the
attention of the United States Catholic
Conference number 3
censoring Mohammed South Park always
ones to poke the bear South Park
produced two episodes primarily dealing
with censoring the image of the Prophet
Muhammed due to threats of violence from
extremists okay what if we cover his
face with a paper bag
no because you still be showing him a
walk around that could it be a to travel
in a possibly ironic twist Trey Parker
and Matt Stone received real threats of
violence and in response Comedy Central
decided to censor the second episodes
visual depiction of Muhammad while many
thought this was part of the joke seeing
as how Parker and stone had their
Mohammed where a bear costume in the
first episode
it wasn’t Comedy Central’s censorship of
an episode about censorship
did help drive Parker and stones point
home though if you don’t want to be made
fun of anymore
all you need are guns and
to get people to stop number two Ellen’s
coming out Ellen Ellen are you coming
out or not Ellen DeGeneres’s sexual
orientation is common knowledge today
but in the 90s a major American sitcom
having an openly gay lead actor let
alone lead character was a rarity to say
the least
that was until DeGeneres came out
publicly in real life with her character
Ellen Morgan following suit Susan I’m
gay
while the highly publicized coming-out
episode was a ratings winner the show
was cancelled a year later
some argue due to the controversy the
episode created Ellen celebrated the
20th anniversary of her coming out on
her talk show with guests Oprah Winfrey
and Laura Dern who were both part of the
original episode why because you don’t
have to fight for anyone to embrace you
and say how wonderful you have a family
and children before we unveil our number
one pick here are some honorable
mentions in the victory of good fight
the real enemy you macho pussies started
hey there’s a guy fucking the Puerto
Rican flag oh who is burning the flag
number one bill says the n-word Real
Time with Bill Maher Bill Maher is no
stranger to controversy and when he’s
under fire he typically doubles down and
never apologizes that was until he made
an off-the-cuff joke during an interview
with u.s. senator Ben Sasse we’d love to
have you work in the fields with us
working the fetch bo yanked the clip and
more issue Dan apology the next day but
the outcry and calls for Mars
cancellation continued in his following
episode Mara was joined by guests Ice
Cube and Simone Sanders who not only
explained to him exactly why what he
said was a huge problem but also that
this was a teachable moment and so for a
lot of people in America that was like a
slap in the face to black America
particularly to black women do you agree
with our picks check out these other
great clips from WatchMojo and subscribe
for new videos every day
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