M.I.A. faces legal trouble for jersey she wore in ‘Borders’

Another day, another fashion controversy.

Prominent French football team, Paris Saint-Germain, has requested M.I.A. take down the music video to her song, ‘Borders.’

The request was made in a letter and was shared on M.I.A’s Twitter account. Addressed to Universal Music, PSG’s deputy CEO accused M.I.A. of “smearing the club’s image” by wearing a parody of the club’s jersey. 

The singer’s version, which reads ‘Fly Pirates’ is a take on  the PSG jersey which reads, ‘Fly Emirates.’ 

For those who haven’t heard ‘Borders’, the song and video criticise the response of Western Governments to the refugee crisis. The video depicts the journey many make to flee war.

The letter states, “the use of our jersey largely contributed to attract the public and the press’s [sic] attention on M.I.A.’s video clip. Thus, you unduly took advantage of our popularity and reputation to enhance the attractiveness of your artist and, consequently, the profits of your company.”

In response, M.I.A. has shared her confusion in an Instagram post, “PSG wanna take DOWN BORDERS video within 24hrs- because of this tee which I bought on my connection flight in Qatar on the way to shoot. they have players who are 2nd gen migrants .  What do you think I should do?”

Many have also criticised PSG’s response, accusing them of ignoring the important message the video aims to send.

Despite the letter requesting the removal of the video from iTunes, Youtube and any other platform, the video remains…for now.