When CBS pulled Rihanna’s intro to its inaugural broadcast of Thursday Night Football, it was generally accepted as a prudent, no-brainer move. Given the simmering Ray Rice controversy, beginning a broadcast with the frivolity of a pop song would have been tone-deaf. But there was at least one person who was unhappy with the decision: 
 
 In a tweet sent Tuesday morning to her 37.2 million Twitter followers, Rihanna ripped CBS for pulling the intro, which features her singing a rendition of the 2009 Jay-Z hit Run This Town that also featured herself and Kanye West. The pop star suggests that she doesn’t want CBS to air the intro this week, though it’s not clear whether she can prevent that from happening. 
 
 Last week, CBS Sports said the intro, and a planned comedy bit which was also scrapped, didn’t fit with the serious tone of its hourlong pregame show. The first 25 minutes of that show focused exclusively on Ray Rice’s release and indefinite suspension after video of him striking his now-wife was released by TMZ. Included in those segments were a news report by CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley and a powerful plea from James Brown to stop domestic violence. 
 
 “We thought journalistically and from a tone standpoint, we needed to have the appropriate tone and coverage,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus told SI.com last week of the decision to bump Rihanna’s intro, among other features. “A lot of the production elements we wanted in the show are being eliminated because of time or tone.” 
 
 Also hanging over the planned intro was the 2009 incident in which Rihanna was the victim of an assault by singer Chris Brown, her then boyfriend. Brown received probation, counseling and community service after entering a guilty plea to one count of felony assault. 
 
 The audacity… — Rihanna (@rihanna) September 16, 2014 
 
 UPDATE: CBS has dropped Rihanna’s intro after her complaint. ||||| The NFL has already decided it can thrive while excluding women. Its handling of the Ray Rice mess has alienated millions of fans. Sponsors fleeing? They can be replaced. But Roger Goodell really stepped in it now: he's got Rihanna pissed off. 
 
 CBS's debut of its new Thursday Night Football package was to be a big event, with a big, dramatic intro featuring Don Cheadle narrating over Rihanna's verses from "Run This Town." In the wake of the league basically admitting it is awful on all things domestic violence, CBS decided it wasn't worth the risk to have one of America's most famous domestic violence victims kick off the action. 
 
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 It was a shitty situation for CBS to find itself in, but at the same time, what did Rihanna ever do to get bumped besides get punched repeatedly? 
 
 Rihanna's understanding of the situation is that her song will be a part of the next and future Thursday night broadcasts. Which means CBS thinks America is done being so sensitive. 
 
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 Update: ||||| Rihanna is defending her latest music video, which opens with a man being shot in the head. 
 
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 Rihanna appears on the NBC "Today" television program, in New York's Rockefeller Center, Friday, May 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (Associated Press) 
 
 Rihanna performs on the NBC "Today" television program, in New York's Rockefeller Center, Friday, May 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (Associated Press) 
 
 Rihanna performs on the NBC "Today" television program, in New York's Rockefeller Center, Friday, May 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (Associated Press) 
 
 "Man Down," which premiered Tuesday on BET, is a song about a girl who shoots her lover in public. The video also portrays sexual assault. 
 
 On Tuesday, the Parents Television Council called the clip "disturbing" and asked BET to stop airing it. 
 
 But on Thursday's "106 & Park," BET's music video countdown show, Rihanna said the video is "art with a message." 
 
 "We just wanted to hone in on a very serious matter that people are afraid to address, especially if you've been victimized in this scenario," Rihanna said. 
 
 BET says it will continue to play the video, explaining that the network "has a comprehensive set of standards and guidelines that are applied to all of our content" and that Rihanna's video "complied with these guidelines and was approved for air." 
 
 MTV hasn't played the video yet. A MTV representative said they're "in the process of reviewing the video." 
 
 Rihanna, who was attacked by then-boyfriend Chris Brown in February 2009, says she doesn't agree with violence. 
 
 Brown attacked Rihanna on the eve of the Grammys two years ago. He pleaded guilty to a felony and was sentenced to five years' probation. 
 
 "I've been abused in the past and you don't see me running around killing people in my spare time," she said. 
 
 But the 23-year-old says rape happens too often and those victims need a voice. 
 
 "If I can be a voice for so many that aren't heard, then I win twice," she said. 
 
 The "Man Down" clip was directed by Anthony Mandler, who has directed other Rihanna videos. 
 
 The Grammy winner says she didn't intend to make a controversial music video. She was hoping to display her acting skills and create "something raw and artistic." 
 
 The video for "Man Down" has not yet appeared on iTunes. A rep for iTunes said that decision is up to the label. 
 
 An email seeking comment from Rihanna's record label went unreturned Thursday. 
 
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 Online: 
 
 http://www.rihanna.com 
 
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 Mesfin Fekadu can be reached at _http://twitter.com/music_mesfin ||||| And you thought Rihanna was mad in that music video. 
 
 The Barbadian popstar's new video for the single, "Man Down," drew calls of outrage and protest on Wednesday, as the Parents' Television Council and a former BET star released a statement criticizing its depiction of Rihanna, as a victim of domestic violence, shooting down her assailant. 
 
 Late Wednesday and into Thursday, Rihanna shot back, going on a Twitter spree that defended her video and thanked her supporters. Her defense was a mixture of claiming artistic freedom, youth and desire to inspire. 
 
 "I'm a 23 year old rockstar with NO KIDS! What's up with everybody wantin me to be a parent? I'm just a girl, I can only be your/our voice!" she wrote early Thursday afternoon. "Cuz we all know how difficult/embarrassing it is to communicate touchy subject matters to anyone especially our parents!... And this is why!Cuz we turn the other cheek! U can't hide your kids from society,or they'll never learn how to adapt!This is the REAL WORLD!... The music industry isn't exactly Parents R Us! We have the freedom to make art, LET US! Its your job to make sure they dont turn out like US" 
 
 As for the criticism, the PTC used Paul Porter, the former BET voice and founder of think tank Industry Ears, to voice its complaints. 
 
 "'Man Down' is an inexcusable, shock-only, shoot-and-kill theme song. In my 30 years of viewing BET, I have never witnessed such a cold, calculated execution of murder in primetime. Viacom's standards and practices department has reached another new low," Porter said in the statement. "If Chris Brown shot a woman in his new video and BET premiered it, the world would stop. Rihanna should not get a pass and BET should know better. The video is far from broadcast worthy." 
 
 Brown, of course, beat Rihanna, not the other way around. 
 
 The video premiered on BET's premiere broadcast, "106 & Park." 
 
 WATCH:
– Last week, CBS dumped a Rihanna song from the first of its Thursday night NFL broadcasts, partially thanks to the Ray Rice situation and Rihanna's own connection to domestic violence at the hands of Chris Brown. Now, apparently, the network wants to include the song in this week's broadcast—and Rihanna is having none of it, Deadspin reports. "CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? NO, F--- you! Y'all are sad for penalizing me for this," she tweeted today, followed by, "The audacity..." New York Times television reporter Bill Carter tweets that CBS has given in and will replace Rihanna on Thursday's show with "theme music created internally." Not everyone thinks the domestic violence link was the main reason the song was pulled in the first place—as USA Today notes, "Given the simmering Ray Rice controversy, beginning a broadcast with the frivolity of a pop song would have been tone-deaf. "