New York Times clarify the M.I.A article

The New York Times have come out and clarified the discrepancies in the controversial article which had offended rap star M.I.A.

This latest development seems likely to bring the feud to an end, as the New York Times have come out with something that sounds like an apology for misrepresenting M.I.A’s words.

An amendment to the article has been published on NYTimes.com and it reads as follows:

“While discussing [M.I.A’s] efforts to draw attention to the civil war in her home country, Sri Lanka, she was quoted as saying: ‘I wasn’t trying to be like Bono. He’s not from Africa — I’m from there. I’m tired of pop stars who say, “Give peace a chance.” I’d rather say, “Give war a chance.” The whole point of going to the Grammys was to say, “Hey, 50,000 people are gonna die next month, and here’s your opportunity to help.” And no one did.’ While M.I.A did make those remarks, she did not make the entire statement at the same point in the interview, or in the order in which it was presented.”

“The part that begins, ‘The whole point of going to the Grammys,’ up to the end of the quotation, actually came first. The part that begins, ‘I wasn’t trying to be like Bono,’ and ends, ‘Give war a chance,’ came later in the same interview. The article should have made clear that the two quotations came from different parts of the interview.”

Lynn Hirschberg who wrote the article bore the brunt of the abuse from the controversial rapper and despite this backtracking by the NY Times, it remains to be seen whether Hirschberg and M.I.A can move on amicably after things got so personal.