1990, Sire Records; directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
The video became one of the first-ever music videos to be banned on MTV. MTV's pass on the video created a furor that made headlines. ABC's Nightline played the video in its entirety and Madonna herself appeared on the program to defend her position and express her views on censorship. The video itself became a bestselling "video single" when it was released on the VHS-format that year. When Forrest Sawyer pointed out to Madonna that she stood to profit even more from the banning of "Justify My Love", Madonna, in typical fashion, smiled and said, "Yeah, so lucky me!"
The video for "Justify My Love" was banned also from regular rotation on MuchMusic in Canada, although the controversy (as well as the subsequent banning of a video by Mitsou) led MuchMusic to launch a new series, Too Much 4 Much, which played controversial music videos accompanied by panel discussions on their artistic and cultural context.
In mid-2002, this video was aired in its entirety on MTV2 as part of a special countdown showing the most controversial videos ever to air on MTV. This countdown was shown only late at night because of the graphic imagery of "Justify My Love" and several other videos on the countdown.
As of early May 2007, the video has been receiving strong airplay on the late night edition of MuchMusic's request show "Punch Much"; however, the video is still banned in many areas of Canada, where the show is broadcast from. The video has had light to moderate airplay on MuchMoreMusic during its late night music video block.
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