Ryan Fricke January 13th, 2016 - 9:40 AM
M.I.A. is being asked to take down her video for the song “Borders” by Paris Saint-Germain for wearing a Paris Saint-Germain soccer jersey with their sponsors logo adjusted on it.
M.I.A. shared her video back in November for the song “Borders” in support of refugee equality after the attacks on Paris and the controversy that followed the acceptance of refugees around the world. The politically themed video was an attempt by the singer to promote understanding for refugees and with all things considered be an act of humility. However, in one of the scenes of her video M.I.A. chose to wear a Paris Saint-Germain soccer jersey solely for the fact that the jersey had an Eiffel tower on its logo, according to her response on Twitter. The issue came when the singer chose to change the “Fly Emirates” to read “Fly Pirates” on the jersey. Now, according to Pitchfork, PSG have allegedly demanded that M.I.A. remove the video, never use their image and brand again and pay compensation for the damage that she has caused.
In a letter that PSG’s lawyers allegedly wrote to M.I.A. they said, “We had the unpleasant surprise to find that the singer, in this video clip, appears twice wearing the official jersey of our team. More than being surprised, we simply do not understand why we are associated, through our logo and the official jersey of our team’s players, to such denunciation.”
The letter demands that the Paris Saint-Germain soccer team be compensated within 24 hours of the letter’s receipt, which was apparently received on December 21. The letter as well as several tweets made by M.I.A. in response can be seen below.
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) January 11, 2016
Me and sports – it's a love hate thing
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) January 11, 2016
Don't they know about me and NFL? #PSGvsMIA #BORDERSvideo.
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) January 11, 2016
When I make videos I end up on hit lists not end of year lists whyyyyyyy? MIAvsPSG BORDERSvideo
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) January 11, 2016
BORDERS came out the day of Paris Memorial Day ceremony for victims of Paris attack. Having an Eiffel Tower on my tee was support I thought
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) January 11, 2016
