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M.I.A. Blasts NFL Suit
M.I.A. has issued a video response to a breach of contract suit filed by the National Football League last year that takes her to task for flipping the bird during her 2012 Super Bowl half-time performance with Madonna.
In a video posted to Youtube Sept. 23, M.I.A. calls the suit “completely ridiculous” and says the NFL is scapegoating her into “figuring out the goal posts of what is offensive in America.”
She notes the performance also featured a row of young, black female cheerleaders “hips thrusting in the air, legs wide open, in this very sexually provocative position” and questions how offensive her middle finger was to the Super Bowl audience.
“It’s a massive waste of time, a massive waste of money,” she says. “It’s a massive display of powerful corporation dick shaking.
“They want me on my knees to say sorry so they can slap me on my wrist and basically say it’s ok for me to promote being sexually exploited as a female then to display female empowerment through being punk rock.”
The league’s suit seeks $1.5 million in damages from M.I.A.