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LA Times, Sports Illustrated

Ray Rice Fallout: CBS Pulls Rihanna Song Before Thursday Night Football; Comedy Segment Also Shelved

Sep 12, 2014  •  Post A Comment

Just hours before the Baltimore Ravens were to meet the Pittsburgh Steelers in a Thursday night game, CBS yanked the Rihanna song “Run This Town” from the opening of its broadcast of the game, reports the Los Angeles Times’ Show Tracker.

In 2009, Rihanna was a victim of domestic violence, when her then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, beat her. CBS had previously planned to play the song with narration from actor Don Cheadle.

The Ravens and the NFL are coping with the fallout from revelations that former Ravens running back Ray Rice punched his then-fiancee (who is now his wife) in an elevator, knocking her unconscious, with a graphic video recently released by TMZ.com.

Sports Illustrated reported that a comedic segment was also shelved.

“It’s important to realize we are not overreacting to this story but it is as big a story as has faced the NFL,” CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus 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.”

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