SMALL PRINT:When MIA "gave the finger" to America during the US Superbowl on Sunday night, the rapper and provocateur joined a long line of public figures who have offended middle America.
Kanye West and George Bush (2005)
In 2005, rapper Kanye West used a Red Cross appeal for victims of Hurricane Katrina to launch a tirade against racism in America. When he said that President Bush “doesn’t care about black people” producers pulled the plug. Bush described it as “one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency.
Dick Cavett v Norman Mailer (1971)
When an inebriated Mailer urged Cavett to “look at your answer sheet and ask your [next] question”, the usually mild-mannered chat show host replied “Why dont you fold it five ways and put it where the moon don’t shine?”
“Im a let you finish” (2009)
At an MTV awards ceremony in 2009, Kanye West (him again) earned the opprobrium of a second US president when he interrupted Taylor Swifts acceptance speech to proclaim that Swifts rival Beyoncé had “one of the best videos of all time”. The next morning, Barack Obama described West as a jackass.
Wardrobe malfunction (2004)
During an already risqué Super Bowl halftime performance by Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson, Jacksons tasselled right breast was exposed on screen for less than a second. The outrage was predictable but its scale (more than 500,000 complaints) was not.
Sinéad O’Connor tears up the pope (1992)
When Sinéad O'Connor ripped up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Livein 1992 it was considered an act of career suicide. Steamrollers crushed hundreds of her CDs next day while O'Connors main allegation – that the Catholic Church was complicit in the systematic abuse of children – was roundly ignored by the media.
