Rihanna's CBS opener cut from network for the rest of the season, after singer's criticism

CBS initially temporarily dropped the track due to Rihanna’s connection with domestic abuse

Rihanna front row at Alexander Wang (GETTY)

Rihanna’s rendition of “Run This Town” has been cut from CBS telecasts for the rest of the season, following a series of angry tweets from the singer.

Her comments criticised the network for pulling the song from last week’s premiere of Thursday Night Football due to her past connection with domestic violence.

The track was dropped by CBS in light of the suspension of NFL player Ray Rice, after footage emerged of him knocking his then-fiancée now-wife unconscious. The scheduled opening was replaced with commentary of domestic abuse, with plans to reinstate the song when coverage of the Ray Rice scandal had subsided.

Spokespeople for the network confirmed that the changes came as a result of Rihanna’s critical comments, although said that they were not the main reason for the decision.

“Beginning this Thursday, we will be moving in a different direction with some elements of our Thursday Night Football open,” said CBS senior vice president of communications Jen Sabatelle in a statement. “We will be using our newly created Thursday Night Football theme music to open our game broadcast.”

The singer’s track had been scheduled to play on Thursday Night Football for the duration of the season, prior to the incident.

“CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? NO, F**k you! Y'all are sad for penalizing me for this,” she tweeted on 16 September, adding in another post, “The audacity”.

Rihanna was the victim – not the perpetrator – of abuse ahead of the Grammys in 2009, after her then-partner Chris Brown attacked her in a car.