Just a matter of days after it was revealed that M.I.A. is facing a $1.5 million lawsuit from the NFL after flicking off the world during the Super Bowl, the perenially embattled musician has finally broken her silence.
In a new video, M.I.A. slams the situation as “ridiculous” – much like her lawyer Howard King did recently – adding in an unsurprisingly fed-up tone, “It’s been making me laugh for a while, but now it’s so boring I don’t even laugh anymore.”
M.I.A. and her legal team aren’t just going to stand there and cop it. In a previous interview with The Hollywood Reporter, King promised “an all-out assault on the NFL’s claims of being a brand devoted to high morals”. Now, it seems, we have the basis of their case.
After demonstrating a strong comprehension of the events that transpired while performing with Madonna during the Super Bowl XLVI half-time show, the singer explains that the dancers in the background of the performance – depicted in explicit poses – were from a local Indianapolis high school and “all under 16”.
As M.I.A herself puts it, “Is my finger offensive, or is the underage black girl with her legs wide open more offensive to the family audience?”
It looks like the NFL won’t be getting the $1.5 mil, or a public apology, any time soon. You can watch M.I.A’s statement below, with the transcript above.
Watch: M.I.A Vs NFL
“The NFL thing is completely ridiculous. It’s been making me laugh for a while, but now it’s so boring I don’t even laugh anymore. So the precise moment in question, and you can actually freeze-frame this as many media outlets have. The frame you’re looking for has my middle finger in the foreground, and the larger picture where it zooms out is a row of 10-15 cheerleaders, young black females, that Madonna got from a local high school in Indianapolis, and they were all under 16. If you look at them, they’re all wearing cheerleader outfits, hips thrusted in the air, legs wide open, in this very sexually provocative position. So, now, they’ve scapegoated me into figuring out the goalposts of what is offensive in America. Is my finger offensive, or is the underage black girl with her legs wide open more offensive to the family audience? That’s basically what it comes down to: a massive waste of time, a massive waste of money, it’s a massive display of powerful corporation dick-shaking, they want me on my knees and say sorry so they can slap me on my wrist. Basically, so they can say it’s OK for me to promote being sexually exploited as a female than to display female empowerment through being punk rock. That’s what it boils down to, and I’m being sued for it.”
(Via CoS)
