MTV pulled the plug on Avril Lavigne’s appearance on Total Request Live yesterday after the teenage pop star stuck up her middle finger during the show’s telecast.
According to a report in New York’s Daily News, TRL host Damien Fahey asked Lavigne for her thoughts about labels that had been placed on her by the media, to which the Canadian singer responded by flipping the bird in the direction of the camera. Lavigne was scheduled to perform another song during the show, but MTV cut her appearance short.
The music television network may still be smarting over its production during the Super Bowl halftime show in February, when Janet Jackson’s bared breast sparked a national decency crackdown by the Federal Communications Commission. An source at MTV called Lavigne’s gesture “totally inappropriate,” though a rep for the singer downplayed the incident as benign.
Lavigne’s second record, Under My Skin, was released Tuesday and is expected to debut Number One on the album chart next week.