Rihanna sounds off on CBS’ decision to cut her out of ‘Thursday Night Football’

Rihanna sounds off on CBS’ decision to cut her out of ‘Thursday Night Football’

The network took a more somber tone for their first broadcast.

Last week’s opening night broadcast of CBS’ Thursday Night Football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens had something missing that few viewers were probably even aware of: Rihanna.

The show was supposed to open with the track Run This Town by Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Rihanna, but due to the release of a highly controversial video-tape of former Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his fiancee in a casino elevator, and the national debate it touched off concerning domestic violence, the network decided to pull the song.

The decision was made due to Rihanna having been a victim of domestic violence herself at the hands of then-boyfriend Chris Brown in 2009. Due to the sensitive nature of the events in the Ray Rice case, CBS felt it would be inappropriate to use a song featuring Rihanna in the opening of their new show, when the NFL had been under fire all week for the way it handled the vile actions of one of their star players.

The network took a more somber tone for their first broadcast, instead of a party-like atmosphere that CBS had originally intended. Though it was assumed that the Rihanna song would be used in following broadcasts, including this week’s game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons.

But days after the network’s decision not to use the song, Rihanna voiced her displeasure with the move, calling them out on Twitter, Tuesday morning.

“CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? NO, F— you! Y’all are sad for penalizing me for this,” tweeted the singer. “The audacity…”

That was all CBS needed to see and hear from the pop star. They responded with a written statement, saying that the song was no longer going to be part of the show.

“Beginning this Thursday, we will be moving in a different direction with some elements of our Thursday Night Football open,” said the network in a statement. “We will be using our newly created Thursday Night Football theme music to open our game broadcast.”

That was not the end of it. Roc Nation, Rihanna’s record label, which is owned and operated by Jay-Z, issued their own statement in response, claiming they were the ones who made that final decision, not CBS.

“Due to the misuse and misrepresentation of Rihanna’s name and participation in connection to CBS’ TNF, CBS was not allowed to license and utilize the song Run This Town. Roc Nation made the decision to not grant the song’s usage,” said the statement from the record label.

Whichever version is true, one thing is certain: Rihanna is no longer part of Thursday Night Football.

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