M.I.A. tackles NFL bosses over Super Bowl controversy

Defiant M.I.A. has gone to war with National Football League officials after they allegedly demanded she cut footage from her upcoming documentary, in which she flips her middle finger at cameras as she performs with Madonna during the 2012 Super Bowl half-time show.

TV executives at NBC apologized for failing to obscure the naughty gesture and NFL bosses also issued a statement distancing themselves from M.I.A.'s actions.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the media, "The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans."

The controversy faded quickly in the weeks after the Super Bowl, but now it's set to rear up again - M.I.A. claims NFL bosses are trying to censor her documentary.

In a pair of angry tweets on Wednesday (10Jul13), the provocative Paper Planes hitmaker wrote, "#NFL wants shots removed of my finger, while every media outlet in the world has it on their pages... a public appology? ,100, 000? and all publishing of the madonna song?. @NFL im down 4 giving u money and publishing but NO CENSOR on film (sic)."

The documentary has been dogged by drama this week - director Steve Loveridge quit the project after leaking a five-minute teaser on his Tumblr.com website.

He received a swift rebuke from executives at the rapper's Roc Nation label, who suggested the leak "screws with everything we've been working on setting up Matangi".

Loveridge responded by resigning from the project, stating, "I really couldn't give a flying f**k. Count me out. Would rather die than work on this."

And now M.I.A. has suggested she might need the help of her fans to complete funding on the film in the wake of Loveridge's departure. In a tweet to followers on Sunday (07Jun13) she wrote, "im gonna need @kickstarter and my fans to help make this exist, ive been black listed through normal channels (sic)!"

Hundreds of fans have already come forward on Twitter and Facebook to support the star and offer up their help if she needs to crowdsource the film.