#Np Run this town @S_C_ ft. @rihanna @kanyewest #GoodMorningNigeriaShow with @UsoroEdima
#Edima #oldschool #OldiesButGoodies #oldies #throwback #oldschoolwednesdayListen live: https://t.co/p194KpzI3L pic.twitter.com/kEjetCclep
— Cool FM Abuja (@CoolFMAbuja) May 13, 2020
“Run This Town,” the hit collaboration between Rihanna, Jay-Z, and Kanye West is the latest victim of the Ray Rice scandal in the NFL. CBS pulled the track from the opening to Thursday Night Football last week. The open used to feature Don Cheadle narrating over Rihanna verses. This week, the song was back, but the change did not go unnoticed. Rihanna took to social media to express her anger at CBS almost immediately. To this point, the NFL has provided no specific reason given for pulling the song. Perhaps given that Rihanna is one of the most high-profile victims of domestic violence, the NFL is trying to distance itself from it’s latest player misconduct scandal. Rihanna sent a big “f..k you” to CBS via Twitter, as reported by Allie Jones of Gawker.
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
Bad Decision That the NFL Tried to Backtrack
Rihanna did not stay silent and was joined by her fans who also posted about the song on social media. Bowing to to to pressure, the NFL tried to sneak “Run This Town” back into the TNF open. But the move came too late. The NFL and CBS pissed off Bad Girl Riri. Talk about hypocrisy. CBS and the NFL think Rihanna sends the wrong message? Take a look at the personal behavior of many current and past NFL players. There are players in the league right now with criminal records, DUIs, and pending legal matters. Once again, CBS and the NFL screw themselves and piss off Rihanna, one of the hottest performers in the industry. Who suffers? The NFL fans who love Rihanna and the old opening.
The audacity…
— Rihanna (@rihanna) September 16, 2014
The Aftermath
Billboard.com reported a representative for CBS Sports confirmed that “Run This Town” was permanently out of the Thursday night broadcast. The rep said, “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.” In summation, there are no winners here. Thanks, Ray Rice.