Categories: News

Rihanna Lashes Out At CBS After 'Thursday Night Football' Intro Is Pushed Back, CBS Cuts Intro

Rihanna called out CBS for pushing back her intro for the premiere of Thursday Night Football in light of the Ray Rice controversy.

Rihanna To CBS Sports: "F–k You!"

Rihanna filmed an intro for the kick off of Thursday Night Football, which features her singing Jay-Z’s “Run This Town,” and was furious when the network decided not to air the footage. On Tuesday, after realizing that CBS planned on using her intro on Thursday night’s installment of Thursday Night Football, Rihanna tweeted her outrage. “CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? NO, F—k you!”



CBS claims that Rihanna’s intro was cut from the program because it didn’t reflect the serious nature of the pregame show, which spent 25 minutes on Rice’s termination from the Baltimore Ravens and his indefinite suspension from the NFL after a video of him knocking his wife unconscious was leaked to the public. A comedy bit was also cut.

“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,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus explained.

However, some speculate that the real reason Rihanna’s performance was cut is due to her own ties to a high profile domestic abuse case. The singer is a victim of domestic violence, having been beaten by her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown five years ago in an incident that resulted in Brown’s arrest and photos of Rihanna’s battered face going viral.

CBS Cuts Rihanna Intro From Thursday Night Football

In a statement, CBS responded to Rihanna’s angry tweets, saying that they would not be using Rihanna’s song after all. “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,” reads the statement.

Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.

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