M.I.A. flips middle finger during Super Bowl halftime show

Denver Sun (ANI) Monday 6th February, 2012

British singer M.I.A extended her middle finger during Sunday night's performance of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin" at the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show.

The gesture was accompanied by a barely disguised expletive as at the end of her lines, M.I.A. appeared to sing "I don't give a (expletive)," although it was hard to hear clearly, the New York Post reported.

The incident was reminiscent of Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" eight years ago, which was a surprise risque instant in front of millions of unsuspecting viewers.

The brief exposure of Jackson's nipple during the 2004 halftime show sparked a storm of controversy and put CBS in hot water with the Federal Communications Commission.

The Super Bowl, broadcast on NBC this year, is regularly watched by more than 100 million people, the biggest TV event of the year.

The screen briefly went blurred after M.I.A.'s gesture in what was a late attempt - by less than a second - to slash out the camera shot.

"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 has blamed a failure in NBC's delay system for allowing the gesture to be seen.

Spokesman Brian McCarthy insisted that M.I.A. did not do anything similar during rehearsals and the league had no reason to believe that she would pull something like that during the actual show.

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

The British singer M.I.A. is popular for her 2007 hit "Paper Planes," a Grammy nominee for record of the year that memorably features a sample of the Clash song, "Straight to Hell."

It was featured on the soundtrack of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire." (ANI)