I still don’t know why people are so upset about M.I.A.’s bird-flipping at the Super Bowl Half-Time show. It was JUST a middle finger. Yes, it revealed to the world that M.I.A. is an immature person, but I don’t get the hand-wringing. One of the unfortunate side effects of the M.I.A. controversy is that it became the “topic” when discussing Madonna’s performance. People were no longer talking about how well or how badly Madge did, they were only talking about MIA’s middle finger. And Madonna won’t stand for that! She will not be ignored.
MADONNA is livid after British rapper M.I.A upstaged her at the Super Bowl by flicking a middle finger and swearing. Madonna, 53, had no idea M.I.A, 36, was going to make the obscene gesture while singing the line: “I don’t give a s***”.
The Queen of Pop had invited her on stage as a guest vocalist at the family American football event — the most watched programme in US history with 111.3 million American viewers.
A source said: “Madonna wasn’t impressed. She prides herself on professionalism. M.I.A did nothing similar in rehearsals. Nobody knew she was going to pull this stunt. Madonna wanted to put on a world-beating performance. But everyone ended up talking about this girl’s middle finger.”
M.I.A, of Mitcham, South London — famous for her hit Paper Planes — was singing on the track Give Me All Your Luvin’, off Madge’s new album MDNA at the Indianapolis show.
A source close to M.I.A — real name Mathangi Arulpragasam, blamed the finger gesture — on “adrenaline”. The source said: “She wasn’t thinking. She was caught in the moment and she’s incredibly sorry.”
M.I.A could be hit with a huge fine, because artists are said to sign a liability clause with TV network NBC.
Powerful watchdog The Parents Television Council called Sunday’s gesture the “selfish act of a desperate performer”.
Chief Tim Winter said: “M.I.A used a finger shamelessly to bring attention to herself, effectively telling an audience filled with children, ‘**** you.’ “
[From The Sun]
Ugh, it was JUST A MIDDLE FINGER. Calm down. Kids see worse crap all the time, and if I was a parent, I think I would have been more peeved with Madonna’s grandma-hip-thrusts.
In other M.I.A. news that possibly only interests me, she and her billionaire baby-daddy have split, according to the NYDN. MIA was with Benjamin Bronfman, son of Edgar Bronfman Jr., for years, and they’re now living in separate cities – she’s in London and he’s in NYC. Apparently, Benjamin is pretty much raising their son Ikhyd on his own – sources claim MIA “sometimes goes six weeks without seeing” Ikhyd.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
omg, middle fingers! Sooooo edgy!!! lolwtfbbq!
*rolls eyes*
Me and my brothers and sister give each other the finger as a greeting. And we actually like each other.
Who exactly is freaking out over the middle finger? Most of the people I know who heard it just yawned.
My husband and I do it all the time too. Everytime he is driving and I take a pic, he flips me off, even on the Autotopia ride at Disneyland. I’m going to get a book made with all the pics over a 23 year period. Should be hilarious!
Like kids don’t see that everyday in school or on the freeway. Haha.
Big deal. The lip-syncing was much more offensive!
Argh, my husband, his brother, and his brother’s 14 year old son flip the bird in every picture when we get together!! At this point, it goes beyond cute and has headed straight for annoying. I just want one nice Christmas photo w/o the damned fingers. Although, I admit, what’s funny is how stealthy they can be about sneaking it in there!
My kids are NOT allowed to do that, but my 12 year old boy thinks it is hilarious to photo bomb every time he can. Sometimes I want to kill him, then I see this nice pic in front of the Eiffel tower and he’s photo bombing a serious pic and I think its pretty funny.
Got to laugh at something when you look back!
As much as I agree that “it’s just a middle finger”, I’m an adult and it doesn’t shock me and I don’t really care. When I saw her flip off the camera, I just thought “what an immature moron”.
BUT, the Superbowl is supposed to be “family” entertainment, and that rude gesture was totally unnecessary. Madonna’s pantsless performance was also offensive, and if I was a parent of a young child, they would not have been watching it. It’s flat-out rude and disrespectful to flip someone off. If it’s okay with the both of you (as many people on here have stated), then that’s different. To have your kid learn it from some twat on the halftime show is not needed. You have to draw the line on some things, and this MIA person should keep her crude, crass behaviour to a venue where it’s not “family” friendly.
C’mon I thought Madonna more than anybody else would approve of the gesture seeing as it’s something she would have done in her youth. It’s controversy and M.I.A. has learned from the best on how to pull it off, Madonna should be proud.
Madonna only likes controversy when she’s at the centre of it
@someone Bingo! Madonna could have avoided the whole issue by going up on that stage by herself. When you resort to dragging people like MIA, Nicki, and LMFAO up on that big of a stage with you, you’re asking for trouble.
Talia has a very good point there – I would’ve expected it from somebody named M.I.A. They ALL do it. And it is offensive and juvenile and it irritates people because it’s ugly. Which is why they do it in the first place!
You got it Someone. Madonna will be fuming that someone overshadowed her.
na-na-na-na-na, and so it goes.
i think what she did was absolutely pathetic.
how are you you ? don’t you have a child? she’s a self important b*tch
a pathetic attempt for attention, seeing how most people haven’t a clue who she is and Madonna & Nicki sell out shows.
BYE BYE BYE! I won’t be listening, buying or illegally downloading any of her crap.
meh. she’s fashioned herself as a punk rock type anarchist now. i give it a pass because expecting model behaviour from musicians like her is just dumb. NFL/NBC should have known better.
I’m sorry, but i know by your rant that you are angry, but when i got to the part where you said, i will not ever illegally down load her music, i lol, that’s pretty funny, i knew madonna was going to be pissed that m.i.a stole the attention off of her show.
Agree with Jean. Not to mention she’s all “too cool for mainstream” being a sidekick to Madonna in front of who knows how many, singing the most amazingly stupid song I’ve ever heard performed by someone in their 50’s.They were all just missing a lollipop. And the finger? Whatever.
MIA is such a stunt queen
And what’s up with her teeth?? She looks like she has a mouth full of Chicklets.
this Ikhyd Bronfman thing distresses me. WHAT is going on? I don’t believe it but then I do believe it because MIA is such a flake.
Reminds me of Madonna on Letterman a while back…
That news about her separated and not seeing her son only further proves that she is a complete and total buffoon. She deserves to be laughed at now. I think Madge is more mad that something so f’cking stupid is taking away from the performance as a whole, not just her. And she should be mad about it.
It’s just media propaganda to further vilify her for daring to stick her middle finger up during America’s past time Superbowl extravaganza. If she was a man nobody would be questioning her parenting or questioning how much time she spends away from her child while working. She’s incredibly private with that area of her life so just because you haven’t seen candids doesn’t mean she’s spent six weeks away from her child.
^ Agreed.
They’re both vile, Madonna because she’s Madonna and M.I.A. because she’s a deluded, hypocritical narcissist…wait, *slaps head in V8 moment* – they’re both deluded hypocritical narcissists.
Wow, compared to MIA I actually like Madonna.
Smug MIA *is* a selfish desperate performer/person.
Smug is fug.
I didn’t even notice the gesture during the performance, but I can understand Madonna not appreciating someone ELSE getting the attention during HER GIG. MIA is unprofessional, uncool, and uninteresting. Zero class. At least Madonna delivers what she was hired to do, professionally, despite her ego.
I walk past an elementary school to get to the grocery store. I was walking past it last week just after school let out (worst.idea.ever), kids everywhere, I was pushing my almost 2 yo in the stroller, when I walked past a couple 8-9 yo boys and one boy told the other to “go suck your mother’s p***y.” I did a double take and a woman walking passed told the kid to watch his mouth. I’m pretty sure he muttered eff off under his breath. So kids seeing a middle finger isn’t that much of a big deal compared to that.
Well Madonna leaked the story about M.I.A.’s awful motherhood – that’s Madonna getting revenge.
I’m sorry, but MIA did come off like an ass. It’s not even black and white…she couldn’t control herself for the 2 minutes she was on stage?
MIA is not a “girl”. She is thirty-six years old. Her gesture was D.U.M.B.
And she’s not black. Funny, I’ve never really seen anyone refer to her as black until this incident.
I’m more offended by MIA’s face than her middle finger.
HAHAHAHA – Me too. I did a double take when I saw the header-pic. And then on the bottom pic she looks like a whole other person…
I don’t understand. Rappers are always doing this, it’s just part of their schtick. Why is it such a big deal now? Who’s so offended by this? I thought it was just a flippant gesture (excuse the really bad, unintentional pun), people do this all the time. What’s the biggy?
Yes rappers do this all the time. It is a matter of the correct venue for it. Would you think it was ok if she did it in church? I should think not. There are proper places for things and most people feel this was not the place for flipping off the camera. The Superbowl is not a MIA concert where people buy a ticket and understand what they are getting; it’s an event designed to appeal to the widest possible audience which includes millions of kids and old people, none of whom need to be flipped off on camera by MIA.
EXACTLY!!! It was unprofessional on the part of M.I.A. to flip the bird to such an enormous audience filled with everyone from young children to the elderly. If she wants to express herself that way during her own concert to her paying fans, fine, but it was a cheap bid for attention to do it during the Super Bowl!
It was at a family event. Any mature adult knows this in inappropriate. I don’t blame Madonna for being upset. MIA tainted her show. MIA is an untalented, pretend thug & is proving herself to be a horrible mother as well. UGH!!
Is it any more offensive than Madonna’s get up during the show? Have you heard LMFAO’s music? Or Nicki Minaj’s? I see this in that context – these artists have a certain persona, and it ain’t wholesome. If they wanted appropriate, then they should have done Bon Jovi. It’s like the corporate types were like we WANT to be hip and cool, so we’ll put these guys up as half-time entertainment, but they better BEHAVE! Can’t have it both ways.
I had not clue M.I.A was 36?
Yea she lied about her age. The truth came out when she gave birth and records were released.
I thought she was early 20s for some reason. I just can’t abide tacky behavior, so the whole halftime show was unpleasant. Those LMFAO trolls, Madge’s hoo-hoo flying upside down, the toga guy bouncing on his family jewels on a tightrope…
MIA should be fined for naming her kid Ikhyd!
Right? I don’t know how it’s supposed to be pronounced, but I always read it as “I kid.” As in, haha, kidding, I’m not seriously going to raise you son, sorry. Momma’s got vague psuedo-political self aggrandizing to do, baby.
Or prononounced: Ikk, hyde.
As in: Ick, this is yucky, go and hide.
That’s a traditional Indian name. Since she’s Indian I think it makes sense. Not everybody needs to be named George….
petunia, what does that even mean? moron, you’re talking about a toddler.
@Asli
She’s Sri Lankan – it’s a whole nuther country!!!
A beast!
Ah, sorry. I just read something somewhere where it said she lives in India. My bad.
Her parents are Indian and Sri Lankan, and I think she was born in England. So there. 😛
LOL Ironic..the former “Queen” of Controversy can’t handle someone else doing what SHE would have done back in the day. How mature! She’s in her 50’s… She’s the Star attraction and everyone knows who she is…she shouldn’t let it bother her!
**TRUE FUNNY STORY- well maybe not everyone knows who she is. One of my best friends was at a bar & grill w/ hubby for Super Bowl in Kansas City. The young male waiter asked if they wanted another round and her hubby said shh just a sec been waiting to see Madonna’s halftime performance. The young waiter asked who Madonna was. My friend Jill about died laughing!!! Now that was priceless:)!
heehee @chloe that was funny.
but yeah, if that is true about her parenting, then THAT is what offends me. Ridiculous and shameful.
I am smh at the whole situation because she got excited and just beside herself;
U can tell by looking at her when she was performing.
That shouldn’t be the sole thing that everyone is talking about but it is.
Madonna/Madge just needs to calm down because she has done worse.
Wow, what an ugly face. (MIA)
I just want to put out that in their new Video, M.I.A flips the bird during her part in the song, just like she flipped the bird at the Superbowl, it was planned and “choreographed”this whole time.
Seriously though, we all know how trashy Nicky Minaj, M.I.A and Madonna can be, so why are people offended when the acts of display were not remotely shocking by these “artists.”
Congratulation!You’re not a sheep.
Seriously,people now are believing that Megalomaniac!
The script for the Superball movie:
MDNA is playing the part of the loser cry baby JT at the Superball.
(I can believe people eat that sh*t.)
MIA is playing the part of JANET.
+
Don’t you remember the VMA’s :
Brit=Minaj(The same hair color for the wig)
XTINA=M.I.A
JANET was a big star at the time an icon like MADGE,she never was able to recover from that mess.M.I.A doesn’t give a sh*t of course she’s never going to be has big has her.Simple has that.
Now,i’m waiting for MIA’s drugged out CNN interview( wearing a BLUE wig) explaining WTF happened.LOL!
Disrespectful to Madonna, who promised a family friendly show to the NFL and NBC. But none of us even saw it. Out of the ten top google searches, Madonna and Madonna halftime has been in six of the ten Google searches the past week. Madonna is doing just fine regarding attention on her from the super bowl.
Ah, okay. See, that’s not cool of MIA then, if Madonna gave her word that it would be family friendly because MIA’s gesture will reflect on Madonna (not being in control of her fellow musicians.)
On a side note:
The immature things kids do these days to get attention, and the shock that it actually still works.
MIA is 37.
For once (and possible the only time in my life), I agree with Madonna.
Remember those tabloid stories about how Madonna was going to give Angelina Jolie an atomic wedgie at the Golden Globes because she totally hates her?
I find this alleged feud between Madonna & M.I.A. about as believable as that.
She is probably just upset, because somebody younger than her is stealing her thunder.
1. I think it was very classless of MIA because kids were present and maybe their parents didn’t want them to see a grown woman do it.
2. I’m LMAO at Madonna (of all people) being upset by this. She’s the queen of rude, scene-stealing gestures. She’s probably angriest that she didn’t think of it first.
So how does it feel MADGE! LOL!! She’s just mad because she didn’t do it herself and get all this attention.
Madonna prides herself on professionalism??? Excuse me while I
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Oh, did Madonna perform with MIA at the Super Bowl? I hadn’t noticed.
hah, maya is stoned as hell in that top picture
I don’t care if she gave Madonna head on stage, but I did read that article a few years ago that she was pissed about and if any of it is true then nothing she does should come as a surprise because they really portrayed her to be a total effing C. I believed every word, of course. I always go with when there’s smoke there’s fire. If Madonna really needs the attention then I can send her the text my brother sent me today laughing at how old and absurd she is.
eye rolls. anyway, went to watch Madonna’s ‘performance’. first of all, that ain’t Cleopatra. that’s Illuminati b.s. second of all. LIPSYNCH. no f’ing way was she singing. third of all, Madonna is a crap singer at the best of times, so she is not going to let herself go live in a world-wide broadcast. there are computers that do a great job making someone SOUND like they’re singing in tune. ya know? also, if you just watch her mouth as she’s ‘singing’ you’ll see that there’s NO WAY she is hitting the words, let alone the notes.
Agreed.
The entire performance was scripted. Nothing was a surprise, this is just the usual mindf*ckery to elicit a certain response from the audience. People, look at Madonna’s getup when she first came on. She is supposed to represent Ishtar, the ancient Babylonian goddess.
The entire performance is thick with occult symbolism. It ends with the Winged Sun-Disk, a symbol of highest importance in occult Secret Societies such as Freemasons, the Rosicrucians and the Illuminati.
If you think this is just silliness, ask yourself why we should be seeing similar symbology in the performances of Lady Gaga, also a huge star promoted by the media. People with big money and power placed these so-called artists in their positions. The occult elite call the shots when it comes to the messages they send out to the masses.
http://vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/madonnas-superbowl-halftime-show-a-celebration-of-the-grand-priestess-of-the-music-industry/
I’m actually with Madge on this one… what MIA did was just plain tacky and famewhory. Girl you think you’re sooo badass but you’re really just a dumbass.
Vadge is just pissed that a 36 year-old flipping the bird got more attention than a 50+ year-old prancing around in a cheerleader outfit with gold pom-poms. (gross)
The big deal about the whole finger episode is not everybody is okay with their kids seeing that!!! My husband and I taped the half-time show because our kids saw the entrance, wanted to watch it, and we said that we had to preview it first to make sure it is okay for them. I’m glad we did. My kids have never seen my husband or I flip off anybody, and if they’ve seen it in their elementary school, I haven’t heard about it–and I would. I’m glad that she’s getting in trouble for saying s*** and flipping off the nation on such a huge show.
I would be pissed to if I was Madonna. This MIA was a guest of Madonnas show. This MIA chick, ( never even heard of her before) If it was her own show , go for it. Do all the obscene gestures you want to. But this was on Madonnas time. And when your a performer this means everything. When a singer has to resort to rude gestures, sleaziness, perverse actions , Are they really that talented. I would say not. Obviously , they feel they cant carry their performance on talent alone, so they resort to shock value. MIA sucks. Madonna was great for a something 50 year old!
I don’t think it’s what she did, it’s the fact that the finger incident took attention away from Madonna that has her so riled.
This” F*incident”didn’t took attention away from MADGE.
You clicked on the thread because of the MDNA photos not because of MIA.
The performance is over and we still talk about her guts.
MDNA’s FIRST reaction=MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
MDNA is a powerful hustler in the biz.
Take that LadyGAG she ROONEYFIED you.
It’s vulgar and immature. When you do something like that, you know you’re going to offend somebody — that’s why you do it in the first place. To those who think it’s a friendly greeting, fine. Chewing with your mouth open and talking loudly during a movie are rude too. Maybe you can take up urinating and defecating in public too, while you’re at it. We’ll all just need to get used to that, since you’re comfortable with it — after all, what’s good for you is good for us too, right?
Do whatever you want in private. When you get in my face, keep your silly juvenile behavior to yourself.
Very well said.
I share your opinion, but sadly we are the minority.
Wait. I’m sorry, MIA is 36?! BITCH WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET YOUR LIFE TOGETHER, YOU ARE TO GROWN TO BE FLIPPING THE MIDDLE FINGER AT NOT TAKING CARE OF YOUR CHILD!!!
Hold on.
This is a woman who grabs her crotch, puts herself on a disco-ball cross, tells people to suck her dick, but flipping the bird is unprofessional. She’s forgetting that she flipped the bird too many times to count on the Confessions tour alone.
Oh for god’s sake!!
These parents that hand wring over their children seeing someone flip the bird!? If that’s the worst thing their exposed to, count them lucky!
I find these are the same smug, selfritious parents that implore “How will i explain gay marrige to my children!?”
Simple, tell them the truth and move on with your day.
Oh, for cripes’ sake! I never even caught when MIA flipped the bird until it was mentioned later on the news. But maybe she should change her name to “M-I-An Attention Wh*re? Yes, I-M!”
Madge’s career has lasted almost as long at MIA has been alive—she KNOWS how to work controversy to her advantage. Madonna will come out of this looking great and MIA will only hurt herself.
I think Madonna is livid that MIA got attention for that rather than flipping the bird and MIA is so insecure because she knows that her career won’t even last for a quarter of Madonna’s in terms of lifespan.
Lord knows how many times Madonna has grabbed her own crotch, gyrated like a stripper (in front of children) and so on and so forth. A one finger salute isn’t her problem. It’s the attention. Madonna doesn’t appreciate anyone stealing her attention – a prime reason behind the failure of her marriages, her husband’s had to be number two and she had to get all the attention (which explains why Sean Penn’s and Guy’s careers returned to normal after the divorce).
Madonna needs to get over it.
She may have given a good performance, but she isn’t a spring chicken and I think that showed.
In any case, Madonna used to be the queen of vulgarity.
Exactly! What is Madonna now the moral police with how rude, offensive & vulgar her schtick was for years? Plleaassee! She is juts pissed at the attention MIA got that she didnt get.
To all you commenters who are all pissed off and complaining that it’s ‘vulgar’ and ‘immature’, sure it is, but GROW UP and stop clutching your damn pearls, you bunch of drama queens! Ahaha, such a mountain out of a molehill because the American media loves to make their viewers feel indignant and self-righteous, to increase ratings! In general, this is such a hypocritically prudish country
actually, NOT all kids see ‘worse stuff all the time’. And frankly, the free speech or relative moralism is really old in this country. Um, I should be allowed to decide what my children watch, and random profanity is not what was expected at the superbowl half time game. Just saying….this happens often on prime time t.v., as well. And then everyone cries ‘free speech, right wing parents’.
At the same time, everyone’s always going on about how kids these days are rude, have no m anners, etc.
you cannot have it both ways.
And NEWS FLASH: Democratic parents also try to influence their children in a positive means, which many associate with ‘religious and conservative views’.
Teaching manners and politeness, and not having too-early exposure to certain gestures and language, is a goal of parents from all ends of the spectrum, policitically and religious-wise.
So it’s not JUST a finger. It was desparately pathetic, and who cares about her anyway….but it’s imporatnt to make a stink, so this does not become commonplace in society. Downgrades are not what we need in terms of public decency and etiquette. It’s already bad enough.
and who cares what europe thinks. we’re not talking ‘artsy nudity’ or ‘true art’; we are talking vulgar attention getting.
Spot on, Irm! As parents we DO have the right to censor what our children watch. I suppose those of you who are telling us “It’s no big deal” are the very ones who say, “It’s no big deal” to your kids. As far as I know the one finger salute still means f*ck you. Playing around with friends who are of consensual age is one thing. Flipping the world off on a very public Primetime platform watched by FAMILIES is classless and not acceptable. Please make sure to keep your trap shut when YOUR kid flips his teacher off at school or gets his little ass beat because he flipped the wrong kid off, since it’s “No big deal.” Pathetic.
lmao! I knew Madonna would be mad! She’d better be glad M.I.A. is taking the focus off of her stumbling during that Super Bowl performance
It was classless but i dont think she planned it. I think she got caught up in the moment and she has apologized for it.
The television council guy is going overboard saying she was telling kids to f off. Plleeaassee! She made a mistake & got caught up in the moment. Again she has apologized & said she feels terrible for it.
Lets face it Madonna is using MIA and Nikki to make herself seem relevant with the young ones. I thought Madonna sucked in the half time show & her new song is terrible. Time for her to retire her singing career since she is coming up with bubble gum pop crap.
I’m not sure I understand the correlation between kids being exposed to vulgarity and having poor manners. I don’t expect or allow my child to use seeing this as an excuse to mimic bad behavior.
I can, however, use this as a learning moment to discuss how I expect my child to comport herself. My influence supersedes a rapper making childish gestures and that’s just how it should be…it’s called parenting…
Anybody who claims to have seen the bird is a liar.
wtf I totally saw it! It wasn’t even hidden! The bird and the scramble on the TV from them trying to hide it. I mean I heard the song before, I knew I don’t give a shit was coming up in the lyrics, and I saw her flip the bird. Jeez.
Ok…the fact that MIA is 36 makes a lot of the stuff she does seem sort of tired. For some reason I thought she was like…lady Gaga’s age, early 20s.
This entire thread-rant does not deserve much attention…Madonna is a masterful businesswoman, but
her bizarre faux-singing, stiff gladiator kingdom is bloody awful.
I could be totally wrong but perhaps it was all choreographed to cause people to talk about it. Really, we’re still talking about the half time show. Would anyone still be talking about it or would it be forgotten by now? Just a thought.
Jeebus. Some of your comments about flipping the bird are insaneeee. Whenever I see someone doing that I just see immaturity at its finest.