Madonna's Super Bowl Halftime Show Was Controversial (& Not Because Of Her)

Super Bowl halftime shows and controversy go together like white on rice. There's been plenty of halftime performances that no one will ever forget (#NippleGate, anyone?). Conversely, there's been plenty that were blander than a button-down and chinos (looking at you, 1969-1989). Throughout the two decades, the Super Bowl halftime period was viewed as "a bathroom break," and entertainment was a mere afterthought. Rolling Stone even described the era as "a low-budget blur of college marching bands, Elvis impersonators, Carol Channing, George Burns, the Rockettes, and year after year, Up With People."

However, everything changed in 1993 after Michael Jackson set the bar for all future acts to beat. "Eager to keep viewers glued to their televisions, the NFL whipped up the Biggest Freaking Halftime Show Ever, starring Michael Jackson," Billboard raved. "The late King of Pop whipped viewers into a frenzy." Given that Madonna is used to causing a stir for all the wrong reasons, it was inevitable that her 2012 performance would also make an impact, for better or worse.  

There were "Muscle Mary gladiators, winged chariots, horned Egyptian gods, and a Busby Berkeley-style production with M.I.A in a monogrammed leather loincloth," NME noted. And to top it off, "A woman writhing around on her knees singing [Like a Prayer] wearing a high fashion flasher mac dress." The glitzy, golden set certainly proved to be memorable. However, Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show also proved controversial, and for once, not because of her.

Madonna's performance makes it into most of the best Super Bowl halftime show lists, but it still had its haters. It wasn't the gold-clad gladiators' gyrating groins and the pelvic thrusts that got everybody hot and bothered; the outrage was caused by a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment that actually didn't have anything to do with Madonna, for once — it was all down to M.I.A. At the end of her set, Madonna's co-star raised her middle finger to the camera and declared, "I don't give a s***!"

"M.I.A.'s actions were totally appropriate for the situation. She's going to catch hell for it," The Bleacher Report opined, branding the show "insulting" and complaining it distracted from the football game (isn't that the point, for around half the population?). The Guardian took a more humorous view. "You'd be forgiven for not having a coronary over the fact M.I.A. gave Super Bowl viewers the finger during her halftime guest spot with Madonna," they wrote. "For most fans, it was probably more shocking to see M.I.A. performing a rehearsed dance routine."

Both NBC and the NFL scrambled to apologize. The network insisted it'd been a "spontaneous gesture," while the NFL had a spontaneous combustion. "The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans," they announced (via Entertainment Weekly). They proceeded to sue M.I.A. for $16.6 million in damage, but the two eventually settled out of court, per Pitchfork.

M.I.A. settled over the one-finger salute, but she wasn't happy. She claimed then-manager Jay-Z tried to talk her into agreeing to the original lawsuit demands, something she adamantly refused. "It proposed that they would keep one hundred percent of my earnings for the rest of my life if I ever earned more than $2 million," she told Huck in 2018. "A middle finger, it's like get a f***ing grip. People were like, 'Oh, you're lucky you're not in jail; give up all your profit,'" she continued.

Surprisingly, Madonna offered no support to her fellow singer. Despite being the former queen of controversy herself, the Material Girl took a decidedly middle-America stand. "I wasn't happy about it. I understand it's punk rock and everything, but to me there was such a feeling of love and good energy, and positivity — it seemed negative," the singer explained during an interview for "On Air with Ryan Seacrest" (via "Access"). Madonna said it was "such a teenager" thing to do and it had been "out of place."

Fast forward 11 years, and M.I.A.'s finger is a mere memory now. However, the singer and rapper has given us no shortage of more controversial moments.