The negative reception to the song and music video was characterized by the "Los Angeles Times" and "Vice" as illustrating a Satanic panic and compared to past moments in popular music history, including jazz music being referred to as "the devil's music" in the early 20th century, John Lennon's comment in a 1966 interview that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus", backmasking accusations, the Parents Music Resource Center's "Filthy Fifteen", Madonna's music video for "Like a Prayer", Lady Gaga's music videos for "Judas" and "Alejandro", and Nicki Minaj's performance of "Roman Holiday" at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. "Esquire" referred to it as "beelzepop" and similarly compared reception to Gaga's "Judas" and Minaj's "Roman Holiday".