The NFL is still aiming to receive money from M.I.A. for her 2012 SuperBowl halftime performance where she flipped the bird in front of 167 million TV households on Feb. 5, 2012.
In the past two years, the NFL seeked $1.5 million from her for breach of contract and the claim that M.I.A. tarnished the NFL. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the NFL is demanding an additional $15.1 million in “restitution” because the value she received from the exposure.
M.I.A. wasn’t paid for the event as is the custom of the league. Nevertheless, the NFL spent the first two years of arbitration demanding $1.5 million for allegedly breaching her performance contract and tarnishing its goodwill and reputation.
Now the NFL has added an additional claim, seeking $15.1 million more in “restitution” as the alleged value of public exposure she received by appearing for an approximately two minute segment during Madonna’s performance. The figure is based on what advertisers would have paid for ads during this time. “The claim for restitution lacks any basis in law, fact, or logic,” say M.I.A.’s response papers, filed on Friday.
Howard King, M.I.A.’s attorney, has been fighting the claim and has some tricks up his sleeves.
M.I.A.’s attorney has been fighting the claim by filing arbitration papers that detail some of the less than wholesome history of the hallowed institution that is the Super Bowl halftime show
To show that the NFL’s moral authority is somewhat less than absolute, M.I.A.’s attorney has also brought up a few other unfortunate things from recent NFL history that more closely pertain to the sport, including the Dolphins bullying scandal, the proposal the penalize uses of the N-word on the field, and that whole messy concussion lawsuit settlement that isn’t entirely resolved.
[KSK]