It's been over a year now since that "controversial" M.I.A./Madonna Super Bowl performance, and somehow, people are still talking about. If you're not familiar anymore — no shame, I'd completely forgotten about it myself — M.I.A. held up her middle finger on camera, leaving conservative parents all over America worrying that their kids would be forever scarred by seeing a woman, GASP, flip off a camera. Apparently, NFL execs found it so outrageous that they're suing for $1.5 million, saying that M.I.A. breached her contract and didn't deliver a wholesome performance like she was supposed to. Since M.I.A. is the same woman who flipped off the camera, though, she refused to take that lying down, and has released a new video absolutely SLAMMING the NFL execs who are suing her, calling the whole thing "completely ridiculous."
And she's right.
In the video, M.I.A. breaks it down: She accuses the NFL of "massive corporation dick-shaking," and says they're only suing her so she'll get down on her knees and apologize. Then, in what is probably the best part of the whole video, she says that if people paid attention to what was going on around her during the performance, they'd see "10 to 15 African-American cheerleaders performing with Madonna, all under the age of 16, in provocative, sexual poses. "Like, is my finger offensive or is an underage black girl with her legs wide open more offensive to the family audience?"
She has a point, and in all actuality, the situation goes even further than that. Amelia McDonell-Parry commented on the whole situation in an article posted on The Frisky over a year ago, after the incident occurred:
So, yeah, I totally agree it was juvenile — or that big of a deal. I must admit, I will never understand why anyone would freak out over a middle finger (or pasty-covered nipple) when they’re watching an event in which dudes pummel each other sometimes to the point of incurring serious injury, in between 30-second advertisements that objectify women.
It doesn't mention the cheerleaders like M.I.A.'s scathing comments do, but it's similar in nature: How is seeing someone hold up their middle finger any more offensive to concerned parents than intense violence, or overtly sexual performances that involve underage girls? It's not — and that's the problem here. M.I.A. did nothing wrong, and she's right in saying it's just another corporation asserting their power with legal action.
You can check out the video of M.I.A. ethering NFL execs below. As recently announced, M.I.A.'s long-anticipated album, "Matangi," is set to be released on Nov. 5 — a date set by Interscope five hours after M.I.A. threatened to leak the album herself if they didn't announce release date soon. Bad girls do it well, indeed.
