Feb
6
3 Celebrities, Including M.I.A., Who Flip Off Cameras
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Janet Jackson flashed her nipple eight years ago during the Super Bowl halftime show, and now it’s another celebrity’s turn to be scandalous during the big game. M.I.A. flashed her middle finger at the crowd during her performance of “Give Me All Your Luvin” with Madonna and Nicki Minaj. The singer, whose real name is Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, also said, “I don’t give a s—,” but it wasn’t audible on the live broadcast. The NFL and NBC have both released statements apologizing for the “spontaneous gesture,” which M.I.A. did not do during rehearsals for the performance. NBC apologized for airing the gesture and for their delay system catching it too late. The NFL was a little harsher in their statement – they blamed NBC’s delay system for failing to catch the “completely inappropriate” and “obscene” gesture. They also apologized to their fans for the disappointing incident. NBC then revised their statement to make the point that the NFL “hired the talent and produced the halftime show.” Will the FCC go after the network like they did after Janet Jackson’s nip slip, or will the moment simply be forgotten?
M.I.A. flipped off millions of viewers during a live broadcast, but many other celebrities flip off cameras every day. Here are a few instances in which stars have been caught flashing their middle fingers.
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber was photographed flipping off the paparazzi in March 2011. He was out to dinner to celebrate his birthday with girlfriend Selena Gomez when the incident took place. He later took to Twitter to apologize for his actions.
Snooki
Snooki was booed when she made an appearance at a wing-eating competition in Philadelphia in 2010. When asked by a reporter why the audience was booing, Snooki responded with, “It’s Philadelphia!” and simultaneously flipped the camera off.