{"id":485606,"date":"2019-05-08T11:07:06","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T17:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=832009"},"modified":"2019-05-08T11:07:06","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T17:07:06","slug":"pink-houses-yuppie-scum-and-beastie-boy-kidnappings-relive-mtvs-most-insane-contests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/pink-houses-yuppie-scum-and-beastie-boy-kidnappings-relive-mtvs-most-insane-contests\/","title":{"rendered":"Pink Houses, Yuppie Scum and Beastie Boy Kidnappings: Relive MTV\u2019s Most Insane Contests"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In 1984, a man named Kurt Jefferis nearly partied to death with Van Halen<\/a>. Jefferis was the winner of MTV<\/a>\u2019s \u201cLost Weekend\u201d contest and his prize was a few days of debauchery on the road with the Eighties metal legends. The promotion was a massive success for MTV, which aired much of the mayhem, including the moment Van Halen brought Jefferis on stage, smashed his face into a giant cake and showered him with champagne. But there was also plenty of footage not suitable for broadcast: Van Halen and their crew pumped Jefferis full of drugs and booze, and at one point David Lee Roth locked him in the shower with a stripper. But as the night wore on, it became clear that Jefferis did not have the constitution for this kind of partying. Finally, a friend he\u2019d brought along alerted producers that Jefferis had a plate in his head, the result of a traumatic injury, and that he should not be consuming drugs and alcohol at all, much less imbibing at VH levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next morning, I had one of the worst hangovers of my life,\u201d Jefferis recalled in Rob Tennenbaum and Craig Marks\u2019 MTV oral history, I Want My MTV<\/em>. \u201cOn the second night, Alex Van Halen handed me a sixteen-ouncer and said, \u2018You\u2019re not leaving this spot until you drink that beer.\u2019 I poured it out in a trash can.\u201d<\/p>\n