‘Thursday Night Football” was supposed to kick off with a rock star performance of “Run This Town” by Rihanna, instead CBS will run a report about Ray Rice on “CBS This Morning” with anchor Norah O’Donnell…and we’re like good call. Don Cheadle’s narration and a comedy segment that was set to air was also pulled.
Earlier this week, footage of Rice knocking his then-fiance unconscious, hit the Internet, ultimately leading to the Raven running back being suspended indefinitely. It makes sense that CBS would opt against having Rihanna, the pop-culture poster child for domestic violence, open for the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, in the midst of the controversy, tonight.
“It’s important to realize we are not overacting to this story but it is as big a story as has faced the NFL,” Sean McManus, CBS Sports chairman, told Sports Illustrated. “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.”
It has yet to be confirmed if Rihanna’s song was pulled from this particular game or from the entire season.
We think CBS just avoided being dragged by #BlackTwitter. Do you agree?
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