M.I.A Fights the NFL $1.5 Million Fine for Super Bowl Performance; Says Whole Affair is "Ridiculous" [VIDEO]
M.I.A is planning on taking her secret war against the NFL -- the league sued her for her controversial Super Bowl performance in 2012 -- into the public domain.
The 38-year-old singer-songwriter joined Nicki Minaj to support Madonna's performance of Give Me All Your Luvin' at the Super Bowl XLVI halftime on Feb. 5 2012. During the performance, she flipped out her middle finger and mouthed "I don't give a shit." The controversial gesture became one of the highlights of the Super Bowl halftime coverage.
A month after the performance, the NFL sued M.I.A for breaching the the performance contract and damaging the league's image and reputation. In the Mar. 13 2012 filing with the American Arbitration Association, the NFL demanded $1.5 million as recompense from the pop star.
It has been 18 months since the filing and M.I.A has been waging a secret war against the NFL during that time. On Sept. 19, her lawyer Howard King revealed her intention to take this into the public domain in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Last week, the lawyers of the NFL pushed to have M.I.A held liable for her actions on summary judgment before moving to a trial for damages.
"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," King told the publication.
King also said that M.I.A was previously hoping to make an out-of-court settlement with the NFL which stated that her "offensive gesture" during the performance was suggestive of a "flagrant disregard for the values that form the cornerstone of the NFL brand and the Super Bowl."
But when the Bad Girls singer found out that the NFL had just agreed to pay $765 million to settle head injury claims by some 4,500 ex-players, she decided to keep fighting and publicly voice her disdain for the league.
"Of course, the NFL's claimed reputation for wholesomeness is hilarious," King told THR, "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 the same, and the raping of public entities ready to sacrifice public funds to attract teams."
Watch a clip of M.I.A's performance at the Super Bowl:
