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Rihanna blasts CBS on Twitter for pulling her song from NFL broadcast CBS cuts ties with Rihanna after pulling her song from NFL broadcast
(34 minutes later)
Pop singer Rihanna has lashed out against CBS after the network pulled her song from the broadcast of a National Football League game last week amid an unfolding domestic violence scandal. CBS has cut ties with Rihanna after the singer lashed out at the network for pulling her song from the broadcast of an NFL game last week amid an unfolding domestic violence scandal.
A song by Rihanna, who was hit by singer Chris Brown before the 2009 Grammy Awards, was to play as an intro last Thursday during the broadcast of a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens. CBS cancelled the singer’s appearance hours after the Ravens released running back Ray Rice for violating the league’s domestic violence policy when he hit his fiancee in an Atlantic City elevator. At the time, CBS sports chairman told SI.com: “We thought journalistically and from a tone standpoint, we needed to have the appropriate tone and coverage.” On Tuesday morning, Rihanna tweeted outrage over the network’s handling of the broadcast: “CBS, you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? No, fuck you!” she wrote.
Apparently, the network still wanted to use Rihanna’s song. Just not before the Ravens. Hours later, CBS said it was “moving in a different direction” and would no longer be using the song Run This Town in any of its football broadcasts.
On Tuesday morning, the singer tweeted outrage to her 37m Twitter followers: “CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? NO, Fuck you!” she wrote. The track, by Jay-Z and featuring Rihanna and Kanye West, was to play as an intro last Thursday during the broadcast of the clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens. But CBS dropped Rihanna’s song hours after the Ravens released running back Ray Rice for violating the league’s domestic violence policy when he hit his fiancee in an Atlantic City elevator.
At the time, CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus told SI.com: “We thought journalistically, and from a tone standpoint, [that] we needed to have the appropriate tone and coverage.”
Apparently, the network still wanted to use Rihanna’s song. Just not before the Ravens game.
CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? NO, Fuck you! Y'all are sad for penalizing me for this.CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? NO, Fuck you! Y'all are sad for penalizing me for this.
The audacity...The audacity...
CBS hasn’t responded. The network replaced the track with updates on the Rice case. The pre-game and game coverage delivered the network almost 21m viewers, CBS’ highest ratings since 2006.
The network replaced the singer with updates on the Rice case. The pre-game and game coverage delivered the network almost 21m viewers, CBS’ highest ratings since 2006.