Do you even remember February 2012? It’s fine, here’s what happened: Madonna asked M.I.A. to be part of her halftime show, and then M.I.A. threw up her middle finger on national television. It was a little funny, and very much not allowed — so the NFL is trying to sue M.I.A. for $1.5 million. M.I.A.’s strategy, after a year and a half of legal wrangling? Publicly shaming the NFL. “It’s a massive waste of time, a massive waste of money, it’s a massive display of powerful corporation dick-shaking,†she says in the below video statement, after some stuff about how Madonna’s backup dancers were teenagers. “They want me on my knees and say sorry so they can slap me on my wrist. Basically, so they can say it’s okay for me to promote being sexually exploited as a female than to display female empowerment through being punk rock.†Throwing the bird at the Super Bowl halftime show is maybe not the punkest of punk-rock acts, but whatever. M.I.A. is not wrong about the lawsuit.
