RiRi on the warpath after song dropped from NFL broadcast
Rihanna has accused CBS of "penalising" her for being a victim of domestic violence.
The 'Right Now' hitmaker, whose ex-boyfriend Chris Brown was placed on probation for five years after he assaulted her in 2009, lashed out at the US TV network on Twitter after her track with Jay Z and Kanye West, 'Run This Town,' was cut from the intro of last Thursday's NFL pre-show because it featured coverage of former Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice's assault on his now-wife earlier this year.
Venting her frustration, the 26-year-old singer tweeted: "CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? NO, F**k you! Y'all are sad for penalising me for this (sic)."
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.
— Rihanna (@rihanna) September 16, 2014
She added: "The audacity..."
CBS Sports previously insisted it had decided to temporarily scrap the song from the intro because it didn't fit with the serious tone of its show, which largely focused on Rice's release and indefinite suspension after a video of him hitting his wife in March was made public by gossip website TMZ.com.
CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus told SI.com at the time: "We thought journalistically and from a tone standpoint, we needed to have the appropriate tone and coverage. A lot of the production elements we wanted in the show are being eliminated because of time or tone."
But following her rant, the network announced that it has decided to permanently remove Rihanna's song from all future NFL pre-game shows.
A spokesperson said: "Beginning this Thursday, we will be moving in a different direction with some elements of our Thursday Night Football open. We will be using our newly created Thursday Night Football theme music to open our game broadcast."
