Rap-Up.com || M.I.A. Flips the Bird at Super Bowl Halftime Show, NFL and NBC Apologize

Madonna may have put on a show-stopping performance at the Super Bowl halftime show, but it was M.I.A. who stole the spotlight with one single gesture. The “Paper Planes” hitmaker flipped the bird while performing with the pop queen, causing the NFL and NBC to issue apologies.

The controversial incident occurred during the debut performance of Madonna’s new single “Give Me All Your Luvin’.” Cameras cut to M.I.A., who threw up the middle finger and rapped a barely disguised expletive (“I don’t give a shi—”). NBC censors briefly blurred the screen, but they were late by less than a second.

The moment was reminiscent of Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” from eight years ago, which ignited a firestorm with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In the years following, the organization tightened its control over television.

Officials from the NFL and NBC have apologized to anyone who was offended while viewing the family-friendly event, which is the most watched TV program of the year with over 100 million people tuning in.

“The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show,” NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. “Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers.”

The NFL attributed a failure in NBC’s delay system for allowing the gesture to be broadcast. According to spokesman Brian McCarthy, M.I.A. did not display the middle finger during rehearsals and the NFL had no reason to believe that she would do so during the live show.

“The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans,” McCarthy said.

M.I.A. has yet to address the situation. Just last week, the British singer debuted the well-received video for “Bad Girls,” the first single from her upcoming fourth album.

[AP]

Posted in M.I.A., Super Bowl | Permalink

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56 Comments

IKARYSS
February 5th, 2012 at 10:01 pm
Yessss lol

[Reply]
REAL Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 5:27 am
@IKARYSS, lol..she a mess

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XO till we overdose Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 7:28 am
@REAL, because she flipped off a camera? get a life, every kid watching that super bowl has probably seen the middle finger before.

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Aaron Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
@IKARYSS, Rap-Up… why is this news?

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nigga
February 5th, 2012 at 10:03 pm
dumb whore…

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Oonthada
February 5th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
-__________- This what everybody whining about? LMAO #Bye

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Official Flo Reply:
February 5th, 2012 at 10:42 pm
@Oonthada, It’s not just anything, families who have children had to witness that.

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Johnathan Reply:
February 5th, 2012 at 10:55 pm
@Official Flo, Child please. If those families were offended by that gesture, they damn sure better have been switching the channel every time a commercial came on.

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jojo Reply:
February 5th, 2012 at 11:08 pm
@Johnathan, people like you want to have an excuse for everything. go find some morals

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JustSaying Reply:
February 5th, 2012 at 11:22 pm
@jojo, Morals? Seriously? I watched the Halftime show.. and If it werent for the reports I would have NEVER realized she flipped the bird.
I did see however PLENTY of sexual, half naked women and men on many commercials.
Please learn the definition of Morals.

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Johnathan Reply:
February 5th, 2012 at 11:52 pm
@jojo, Sorry sweety but my morals have nothing to do with this honestly. Bottom line is, the Super Bowl can hardly consider itself “Family-Oriented Programming.” If people want to be so uptight against M.I.A.’s gesture, they obviously should be uptight with a majority of the commercial that were shown DURING the Super Bowl like GoDaddy and advertisements for alcohol, etc.

There is absolutely no excuse. Stop being hypocrites.

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wonderLand19 Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 3:08 am
@Johnathan, CO-SIGN!

meds Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 4:01 am
@Official Flo, you know, there are a looooot of families who experience u.s.a. bombs everyday. americans are shocked for a flip off. please!

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Yeah Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 6:56 am
@Official Flo, kill yourself, its a damn finger you idiot

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mike tyson
February 5th, 2012 at 10:11 pm
man all the shit that happens on t.v and they mad about that CTFU!!

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Alsonfo
February 5th, 2012 at 10:13 pm
NFL & NBC GROW THE FUCK UP & GRAB YOUR BALLS & STICK IT

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Chris_DasMyName
February 5th, 2012 at 10:15 pm
Oh God.. I really though it was something more serious.. So! everyone Does it.. I Don’t Give A Shit!

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:) Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 4:14 am
@Chris_DasMyName, LOL! :)

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Triniti
February 5th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Who the hell really cares about a gesture people MAKE everyday and a word people SAY everyday?

Get your priorities right, America!

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Carmen
February 5th, 2012 at 10:31 pm
People need to understand that the Superbowl and all NFL events are produced for FAMILY’S and it’s the most watched televised event of the entire year. This is an event that is watched by people and their SMALL CHILDREN. People should be able to let their kids watch a sporting event without having to explain to them what a vulgar hand gesture means. M.I.A. is an ungrateful little troll for tarnishing Madonna’s performance with this. She should have been grateful to even be there, like Nicki, and LMFAO, but no, she has to go and TRY to create controversy. the worst part is that it won’t help her career, so it’ll all be for nothing.

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DRB
February 5th, 2012 at 10:33 pm
It’s only a big deal because they make it a big deal. No one cares.

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nicegirl
February 5th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
haha….I didn’t even notice it when I watched the performance, I must’ve blinked at that time.

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Hmmm
February 5th, 2012 at 10:47 pm
Really? This? Come on. There are bigger problems out there, this is not even one, it was just a gesture, goes well with the “I Don’t Give A Shit” line…

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my name is oo
February 5th, 2012 at 10:49 pm
Please stop singing

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nobody
February 5th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
Oh the humanity!! Get over it

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jojo
February 5th, 2012 at 11:12 pm
It’s sad people can’t even watch tv with their children without some trashy brit trying to get some publicity with disgusting behavior

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toast2themosthigh
February 5th, 2012 at 11:22 pm
i saw this coming…
its not a big deal to me…but still…this is the super bowl…their gonna be mad about this…this is a worldwide event…its like if someone did this at the world cup then it would also be a big deal…families do watch it…granted most ppl didnt even notice it…but still…she should have known better…i wasnt offended…i thought it was funny…thats still not the point…their gonna try to destroy her…which sucks…M.I.A. is the shit…i love that chick…just a poor decision…

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andy
February 5th, 2012 at 11:25 pm
Lmao I like her more now & Bad Girls is growing on me a lot.

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Last
February 6th, 2012 at 1:16 am
She’s become everything she was once against…*sigh*

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Bouhh
February 6th, 2012 at 2:32 am
You guys make me laugh with your family thing ! Every single day you put your children in front of war scenes, explosive cars, blood, all that in movies, ads, tv news… and then with that gesture we can see for few seconds in a 12min performance you are offended. Do you really think your kids won’t grow properly because of that sign ?!
Seriously go fight against something that worth it, like our economics situation, racism, poverty and all the injustice of our world !
Damn, I don’t even know why I wrote this comment and above all why I read this post… Anyway have a nice day listening, reading, watching about that SHOCKING event…

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Randy
February 6th, 2012 at 3:30 am
Right, nbc will air shows full of sex and mature content during daytime, but they’ll apologize for someone flipping the middle finger at 7 in the evening during a football gave. fuck off nbc

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:)
February 6th, 2012 at 4:02 am
I wonder how I didn’t catch that?

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Sharp Tongue
February 6th, 2012 at 4:17 am
What’s the fucking big deal?

[Reply]
M.I.A.’s Middle Finger Causes NBC And The NFL To Apologize: Morning Mix | Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on Idolator.com
February 6th, 2012 at 5:01 am
[...] :: There was no “wardrobe malfunction” yesterday, but the Super Bowl Halftime Show wasn’t without controversy – NBC and the NFL have issued an apology for M.I.A. flipping the bird to the camera during her guest verse in “Give Me All Your Luvin’”. “The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans,” NBC spokesman Christopher McCarthy said.”[Rap-Up] [...]
gagaqueen
February 6th, 2012 at 5:17 am
Seriously?

The other day NBC showed footage of a dead Ghaddafi being dragged around.. I thought that was much worse.. Like who the fuck wants to see a dead body on TV 24/7.

This is nothing LOL we all know what the finger means.. #smh

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Staggslaw
February 6th, 2012 at 5:18 am
Now we’ll see which networks have the class, and which don’t, never to put her on the air.

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KingdomOfMace
February 6th, 2012 at 5:23 am
M.I.A. You Better Get Yo Life! Lol.

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cedric
February 6th, 2012 at 5:25 am
who cares ..I DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE.

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truth
February 6th, 2012 at 5:35 am
the same families that complain about this probably take their kids to movies like transformers which are marketed to kids, adults, and families despite the pg-13 rating. movies with jokes about sex, drugs, and use way worse language. a 2 second gesture will have little effect on a childs mind compared to that. i understand parents complaining, but they’re hypocritical as hell.

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Will
February 6th, 2012 at 5:57 am
I would have never known if it wasnt for this post. Who gives a shit people are going to go on with there everyday lives, the super bowl is over, kids back to school, grown folks back to work. Life goes on…….

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Lola
February 6th, 2012 at 6:07 am
I don’t know if I believe they had no idea she would throw up her middle finger. In this day and age, a little controversy will leave tongues waggin and something tells me NBC feels it would be good for business. I don’t know much about how televised events are organized, but I think they have people on their payroll who can avoid things like. They might not even be sorry about this at all because we are still talking about it today.

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ahh
February 6th, 2012 at 6:48 am
This why people dont like america. We whine over shit like this when wr should be worrying about our nxt president.

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Yeah
February 6th, 2012 at 6:58 am
who f*cking cares? its a damn finger, i’ll flip every finger up at people, who gives a shit, all of you that complain and are offended are weak and shitty human beings and you should die so you can make the world a better place… if your going get hurt over a middle finger on a human hand smh

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Ruston
February 6th, 2012 at 7:26 am
They treating this like its the Janet fiasco, it ain’t like she flashed anyone. They need to chill the fuck out with that.

[Reply]
In Flex We Trust » NFL & NBC Apologize For M.I.A. Giving The Middle Finger During Halftime Performance
February 6th, 2012 at 7:46 am
[...] RU [...]
619productions
February 6th, 2012 at 8:44 am
see thru the lines its amazing the that no one notices how much control the fcc has on television. viligantcitizen.com check it out dont take everything on this site literal but you’ll open your eyes to new views on life is your not already woke. enjoy

[Reply]
619productions
February 6th, 2012 at 8:46 am
sorry you guys thats vigilantcitizen.com

[Reply]
Ice
February 6th, 2012 at 9:00 am
I still find it stupid that our middle finger, something everyone is born with, can be taken as a form of profanity. It’s not even that serious.

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CarlosBonegro
February 6th, 2012 at 9:17 am
I FUCKIN LOVE M.I.A HAHAHAHA

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TRA
February 6th, 2012 at 10:18 am
We live in a nation full of hypocrites and liars. I could be wrong, but I don’t know a whole lot of children under the age of 11 years old who watch the Super Bowl anyway. Even if there is a lot of children under the age of 11 years old who watch the Super Bowl, there are children under the age of 8 years old who already kow how to curse and use vulgar language, even if its wrong. Even if the Super Bowl is a family event, it is the responsibility of the parents to teach their children right from wrong. I am not saying that it is right for M.I.A. to flip the bird on stage, but M.I.A. is a music artist, and we have seen music entertainers do controversial things all the time. I didn’t even know M.I.A. flip the bird, until I saw the replays of the halftime show. I could be wrong, but it seems like the biased mainstream media, and NBC try to make something out of nothing that we see in movies, and on TV a million times before. This so-called, M.I.A. controversy is nowhere near as big as Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake controvesy years old. I could be wrong, but in my unbiased opinion, M.I.A. will probably get a pass in the end, only because she flipped a bird, but Janet Jackson should had gotten a pass when her breast got pulled out by Justin Timberlake at the halftime show years ago. Justin Timberlake got a pass because he apologized and got a chance to perform the Grammys that next year, and it didn’t hurt him too much because he was a famous white superstar. But Middle America came really down much harder on Janet Jackson, when Justin was the one who pulled out her breast. I think it is a race problem, and a social problem at the same time. M.I.A. is not a white person, and M.I.A. is from another country, so she will get away with it. But if that was a black superstar who did that, then the media would make a big deal out of it.

[Reply]
AustynKing Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
@TRA, EXACTLY SOCIAL BIGOTRY! NOT TO MENTION THE BULLSHIT SHE ENDURES BECAUSE OF HER BRO THAT IS A PEDOPHILE

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tune
February 6th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
wow, i noticed when they blurred the screen but i didnt know she did that lol

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Layla
February 6th, 2012 at 9:09 pm
MIA flipped the bird in Madge’s music vid sooooo obviously Madge was cool with it, and ITS NOT OFFENSIVE LIKE AT ALL MIA IS A SPECTACULAR ARTIST THAT ISNT AFRAID TO BE PROFANE, LISTEN TO HER MUSIC HER NEW SONG “BAD GIRLS” IS BILLBOARD CHART MATERIAL ITS AN AWESOME SONG

[Reply]
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February 10th, 2012 at 6:39 pm
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