CBS chose to pull a video package from its Week 2 Thursday Night Football broadcast that featured actor Don Cheadle speaking over highlights, while Jay Z and Rihanna’s “Run This Town” played in the background. Now the network wants to air it in Week 3, but Rihanna isn’t having any of it.
Rihanna is mad at CBS and ‘Thursday Night Football.’ Here’s why
A programming decision has Rihanna upset, and it’s unclear what will happen on Thursday.
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
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 Two more planned segments were axed from the broadcast following the suspension of Ray Rice by the NFL and his release by the Baltimore Ravens. The opening was changed to an interview with commissioner Roger Goodell, and in addition a comedy segment was pulled. CBS Sports’ chairman Sean McManus told SI.com the changes were to properly match the tone of the league that week.
“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.”
Rihanna isn’t seeing it that way.
The audacity...
— Rihanna (@rihanna) September 16, 2014 So, to recap: CBS removed a segment from its broadcast which featured a victim of domestic violence. Rihanna feels wronged by her song being pulled and that she has been penalized for Rice’s crime.
There has been no response from CBS at this time and it’s unclear if the segment will air on Thursday.
UPDATE: CBS is pulling Rihanna’s song from Thursday Night Football in favor of new music that will be created in-house and used for the remainder of the season.
See More:
