It has been well over a year since M.I.A. unceremoniously gave the camera the finger during her performance as part of Madonna's half-time show at Super Bowl XLVI and just about everyone who noticed the gesture soon forgot about it once the game got back underway. As The Hollywood Reporter revealed this week however, not everyone was quite so quick to forget. Namely, the bosses at the NFL themselves.

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M.I.A. won't bow down to the NFL

As THR state, the NFL are demanding $1.5 million in damages and a public apology from the 'Paper Plane' hit-maker for extending her middle finger and seemingly mouthing "I don't give a sh*t" during her segment in Madonna's 'Give Me All Your Luvin'.' The league decided to take legal action against the English/Sri Lankan rapper/singer, born Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam, for supposedly breaching the terms of her contract and tarnishing the goodwill and reputation of the game, and after 18 months it seems as though the case hasn't gotten any further off the ground.

With the case seemingly being forgotten, the league's bosses injected further impetus into the case earlier this week by pushing their case into court, as they are determined to see the singer face retribution for her actions. But M.I.A. isn't going to take these charges sat down, as she plans to take on the ultra-powerful league in court and highlight how absurd it is that the organisation have taken the whole thing so seriously. Her lawyer, Howard King, told THR that his client is planning on launching a public war against the NFL.

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The NFL claim her gesture was damaging to their brand

"She is going to go public with an explanation of how ridiculous it was for the NFL and its fans to devote such furor to this incident, while ignoring the genocide occurring in her home country and several other countries, topics she frequently speaks to," King said. He added that he and his client had tried to handle the case in private, but with that going nowhere, they have decided to engage the corporation in the public arena.

"Of course, the NFL's claimed reputation for wholesomeness is hilarious," King continued. "In light of the weekly felonies committed by its stars, the bounties placed by coaches on opposing players, the homophobic and racist comments uttered by its players, the complete disregard for the health of players and the premature deaths that have resulted from same, and the raping of public entities ready to sacrifice public funds to attract teams."

The NFL have still not commented on King's statement. More on this story as it develops.