Why the NFL Is Suing Singer M.I.A. for $16 Million?
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Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — M.I.A.’s beef with the NFL is getting expensive. So expensive, that she’s taken to Twitter to ask Madonna for a “loan.”
The National Football League has sued the singer for more than $16 million after she flipped off the camera during her 2012 Super Bowl halftime performance with Madonna. Originally, the suit was just $1.5. million.
“I think they’d like to see MIA in bankruptcy court crying for mercy,” her lawyer, Howard King, told ABC News. “It’s not going to happen.”
However, the NFL, who declined to comment for this story, has said that she raised her middle finger in order to gain publicity.
Her lawyers said the NFL is billing her for TV time “on the theory that advertises paid that much per minute.”
The FCC has not filed a complaint for the incident and her legal team has made note of past eyebrow-raising halftime shows — including Michael Jackson’s performance in 1993 and even the background dancers in 2012, comparing it to a “strip club.”
Meanwhile, the “Paper Planes” singer seems largely unaffected by the lawsuit. Not only has she been Tweeting snippets of the lawsuit, but she’s even jokingly reached out to Madonna for some cash.
“@madonna ummm ….. can i borrow 16 million ?” she tweeted.
THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT ME TO SIGN , THAT IVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR 2 YEARS ON TOP OF 16 MILLION pic.twitter.com/PMurD3oVFL
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) March 17, 2014
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