M.I.A.'s middle finger during her Super Bowl XLVI performance Feb. 5, 2012 was answered by the National Football League (NFL) with a $16.6 million lawsuit against the singer.
Nearly 167 million viewers tuning into the event witnessed the Sri Lankan singer-rapper flip the bird while singing Madonna's "Give Me All Your Luvin'" alongside the music maven and Nicki Minaj. She swapped the lyric "sh*t" for her finger.
One month after the performance, the NFL led a legal war against 38-year-old M.I.A., at first demanding $1.5 million for allegedly breaching her performance contract (for which she was not compensated for, as is Super Bowl custom) and tarnishing its goodwill and reputation, The Hollywood Reporter said at the time.
Now the NFL is claiming an additional $15.1 million in "restitution" for the added public exposure she received when later appearing for a two-minute segment during Madonna's act.
The figure is based on what advertisers would have paid for ads during this time, but M.I.A., born Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, did not agree.
"The claim for restitution lacks any basis in law, fact, or logic," said M.I.A.'s response papers, filed Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter's latest report.
The music superstar continues to say that this is the league's attempt to assert its power and dominance, saying the "continued pursuit of this proceeding is transparently an exercise by the NFL intended solely to bully and make an example of Respondents for daring to challenge NFL."
M.I.A.'s cohorts assert that the allegations are hypocritical given that numerous NFL players have had DUIs and brought loaded guns into packed bars, among other things.
M.I.A. also cited past raunchy Super Bowl halftime show acts, like Prince's penis-shaped guitar and Madonna's provocative crotch-thrusting dancers.
As for the game itself, the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 21-17.
