CBS Pulls "Run This Town" From NFL Opener Following Rihanna Rant

Last week amid the release of footage of now-disgraced NFL baller Ray Rice knocking his girlfriend out during an elevator argument, CBS made the decision to remove “Run This Town” as Thursday night’s NFL opener theme music because it featured Rihanna, who was also victimized by domestic violence at the hands of ex-boyfriend Chris Brown five years ago. Shortly following, Rihanna lashed out at CBS for their choice and they’ve since responded by removing the song from the opening altogether.

via USA Today

Hours after Rihanna criticized CBS Sports for leaving her rendition of the Jay Z song ‘Run This Town’ out of last week’s broadcast, the network announced there would be changes in future broadcasts as well.

“Beginning this Thursday, we will be moving in a different direction with some elements of our Thursday Night Football open,” said CBS senior vice president of communications Jen Sabatelle in a statement. “We will be using our newly created Thursday Night Football theme music to open our game broadcast.”

The opening featuring Rihanna was removed last week as the network looked to take a more serious tone before the Ravens-Steelers broadcast to address the issues of domestic violence in the league.

Until Tuesday’s announcement, the singer’s opener had been scheduled to appear on Thursday Night Football for the rest of the season.

It seems pretty ridiculous to us to penalized the victim for her involvement in a domestic violence situation, but do you think Rihanna went to far with her comments against CBS? And were they justified in removing her music?