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Music

The NFL Are Trying To Censor The World's Most Important Pop Star

They're demanding $1.5 million from M.I.A after the singer infamously flipped the "middle-finger" at the Superbowl.
Ryan Bassil
London, GB

Each year, at the beginning of February, Briton’s gather in pubs and lounges and pretend to give a shit about another sport that involves a football. It’s all part of the NFL Superbowl, a worldwide-televised event that gives people a justified reason to stay up until 5AM drinking imported beer and eating hot dogs.

The main reason everyone outside of America watches the Superbowl is the half-time show. In past years we’ve seen Beyonce (feat Destiny's Child), The Who, and Janet Jackson’s nipples. Almost every Superbowl is watched by millions of people, but according to Nielsen ratings, the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show remains the most-watched halftime show in history, with over 114 million people tuning in. This show, which was watched by almost as many people as the combined populations of Australia, England and France, featured a performance by MIA. It was great mostly because more than any other pop star, MIA is deserving of such a wide audience. But also because during her performance, MIA did what artists should do, which is speaking their mind. In this case, Maya flipped the bird, while mouthing, “I don’t give a shit”.

Apparently though, the NFL does give a shit. The Hollywood Reporter writes that since March 13, 2012, MIA has been embroiled in a secret legal battle with the league who are demanding $1.5m for an alleged breach of contract and tarnishing the NFL’s goodwill and reputation.

Let’s take a second to quickly click through video evidence of the NFL’s goodwill and reputation.