M.I.A. Vs. The NFL

M.I.A. Vs. The NFL

During the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, M.I.A., who was performing alongside Madonna, flipped off the cameras. It was not exactly a Janet Jackson-level world-destroying public scandalization, but just the same, a couple months after the incident occurred, the NFL demanded the singer deliver a public apology and $1.5 million. That battle was waged privately in courtrooms for more than a year, till going public in 2013. In September, NFL lawyers moved to have M.I.A. “deemed liable for her actions” before moving to trial for damages. In legal documents, the league called the finger an “offensive gesture… in flagrant disregard for the values that form the cornerstone of the NFL brand and the Super Bowl.” M.I.A.’s lawyer Howard King replied by saying, “She is going to go public with an explanation of how ridiculous it was for the NFL and its fans to devote such furor to this incident, while ignoring the genocide occurring in her home country and several other countries, topics she frequently speaks to … Of course, the NFL’s claimed reputation for wholesomeness is hilarious in light of the weekly felonies committed by its stars, the bounties placed by coaches on opposing players, the homophobic and racist comments uttered by its players, the complete disregard for the health of players and the premature deaths that have resulted from same, and the raping of public entities ready to sacrifice public funds to attract teams.” In November, while doing publicity for her new album, Matangi, M.I.A. asserted that her action wasn’t an act of defiance, but one of religious observance. “Well, you know gang signs — in America you have gang signs, and people throw up initials and stuff like that,” she told NPR. “Well, 5,000 years ago, there was thing called a mudra, which is your sitting position when you do yoga or you’re meditating or praying or whatever. And you have different ones based on what you’re meditating over. There’s not a lot of them that are named after gods and goddesses, but the middle finger is specifically named Matangi — the Matangi mudra.”