Sophia Michaels
M.I.A. is placing JAY-Z on blast.
The “Paper Planes” rapper has accused her former Roc Nation supervisor of suggesting she signal a “ridiculous” contract with the NFL after she threw up the middle finger throughout Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime efficiency in 2012.
“If you’re talking about racism and sexism, that moment in my life showed the cracks in everyone I knew,” she informed Huck Magazine. “I was at Roc Nation at the time and JAY-Z was managing me. The lawsuit was so ridiculous, it proposed that they would keep one hundred percent of my earnings for the rest of my life if I ever earned more than $2 million dollars. JAY-Z was, like, ‘You should sign that shit’ and I was, like, ‘No.’”
M.I.A. additionally says that she felt the scandal was unwarranted. “A middle finger, it’s like get a fucking grip,” she continues. “People were like, ‘Oh you’re lucky you’re not in jail, give up all your profit, be this slave for the rest of your life.’” She provides: “Oh god, I hope the NFL doesn’t sue me again for talking about it.”
The singer parted ways with Roc Nation in 2013. At the time, she additionally referred to as the fallout “ridiculous.” “The NFL thing is completely ridiculous,” she said. “It’s been making me laugh for a while, but now it’s so boring, I don’t even laugh anymore.” She additionally referred to as it a “massive waste of time and money” and a type of “powerful corporation dick-shaking.”
The Super Bowl scandal is featured in Stephen Loveridge’s documentary, ATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. M.I.A. says the film is just not precisely just like the one she would make. “I hate it,” she stated. “No, that’s what people want me to say. The first time I saw it at Sundance, I was in shock. The second time I really liked it.” She provides: “Me and Steve have very different ideas of what a good film is.”
Regarding the movie’s protection of the Super Bowl scandal, she says it solely reveals a glimpse into what that second was like. “What’s in the film is a very tiny bit of what happened to me in real life,” she added. “It’s quite entertaining for Steve to have made it into this nice little cookie but the reality of that was way worse. A lot of people I feel got off the hook.”
