M.I.A. is at War with the NFL for That Super Bowl Middle Finger Moment

By Kate Dries | September 19, 2013 | 8:50pm

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In February of 2012, a musical artist who once made the mistake of ending a relationship with Diplo and preventing the world from receiving the bounty that would be the world’s most rhythmic children did something inappropriate during a small sports show hosted by the National Football League. The National Football League, known as the NFL, then demanded one million and a half dollars from said musical artist, known as M.I.A., for this inappropriate act. But that pile of cash was only the beginning.

The Hollywood Reporter has the juicy tale behind M.I.A.’s “secret legal war” with the NFL over her choice to throw up her middle finger sad and alone in the world, without the support of its other fingers. And juicy it is! According to M.I.A.’s lawyer Howard King, M.I.A. has decided to do something totally out of character and take this “secret legal war” and air it out for the public to see. Says King:

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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.

The NFL says M.I.A. was aware that she was supposed to be on her best behavior, especially given that she was probably one of millions around the world who wished that they had DVRed that moment that Janet Jackson’s breast got loose so they could replay it over and over again. But King says that the NFL is just trying to “crush this brown, outspoken young lady, especially since they are making her life miserable for the cost of a 30-second spot in one of this weekend’s secondary games.” He’s asking people to email him and his team at [email protected] with examples of how the NFL has damaged its own reputation so that he and M.I.A. can win this thing.

The real star of this juicy story is not the NFL or M.I.A. or M.I.A’s middle finger. The real star of this story, it turns out, is Howard King. Named by THR as one of the top Power Lawyers in Hollywood in 2012, he is also Dr. Dre’s lawyer and the man who made that Tupac hologram possible. Best lawyer ever? Best lawyer ever. Give this man a reality TV show.

NFL Waging Secret Legal War Over M.I.A’s Super Bowl Middle Finger (Exclusive) [THR]

Image via Christopher Polk/Getty