In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, Scott Ian, guitarist for Anthrax, shared the story behind the band’s music video for Madhouse, which was banned by MTV for being deemed offensive to the mentally impaired.
Recalling the initial submission, Ian explained, “It was a long shot anyway for a band named Anthrax with the kind of music we played, but we submitted the Madhouse video to MTV.” The video depicted people in straitjackets moshing in a mental institution, an image that MTV found to be in poor taste. Ian continued, “MTV came back to us and very politely said, ‘We will never air this. You’re banned from MTV because we feel you’re making fun of the mentally impaired.’ We were like, ‘What?!’”
In typical Anthrax fashion, the band’s reaction was unapologetic. “We were like, ‘Fck MTV anyway! Who needs this sht?!’ This was before Headbangers Ball even existed,” Ian laughed. “We were really excited about the video, so when MTV dropped the ban hammer, the label actually issued a press release saying we were officially banned. And of course, that only got people more excited about it.”
Despite this early setback, MTV eventually warmed to the band. As Anthrax’s popularity grew through the late 1980s, especially with their hit cover of Antisocial, the network began to embrace them. In 1989, MTV even hosted a contest where the winner could have their home “trashed” by the band, a promotion that bassist Frank Bello recalled in a 2014 Loudwire interview. “It was a blast,” Bello said. “We could legitimately break things, and MTV would pay for it! I think the homeowners got a little scared, but we had a ball doing it.”
As for the band’s current activities, Anthrax released For All Kings in 2016 and are now working on their highly anticipated follow-up. In a September interview with Guitar World, Ian explained the delay in the new album, saying