Parents group targets Billboard performance by Rihanna, Britney Spears

The Parents Television Council is protesting what they term an "explicit" performance by pop artists Rihanna and Britney Spears on Sunday night's broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards on ABC.

The watchdog group is asking members to contact parent company Disney about the opening act of the 8 p.m. broadcast, which featured both singers performing Rihanna's song "S & M" while wearing bondage-style outfits and dancing on poles.

The singers also staged a pillow fight and shared a brief kiss at the song's conclusion.

"The song title alone reeks of the adult entertainment industry and last night's performance wasn't far from it," said PTC president Tim Winter in a statement.

“What happened in Vegas should have stayed in Vegas, as the saying goes. It certainly has no place at 8:00 pm on the publicly-owned broadcast airwaves.”

 The watchdog group has campaigned against other shows featuring frank depictions of sex and violence on cable and broadcast television including MTV's "Skins," "Glee" and "Gossip Girl." Winter told The Hill earlier this year that the PTC's focus is protecting children watching broadcast TV during prime time.

"I cannot imagine what would possibly lead the ABC television network to air a profanity-laced, S&M sex show on primetime broadcast television," Winter said.

"The overtly sexualized performance by Rihanna and Britney Spears was no accident or mishap, but a deliberate effort to target teens with images and lyrics that that glamorize whips, chains and other sexual fetishes."

Winter said his group plans to contact ABC-Disney as well as advertisers including Chevrolet, Old Navy and McDonald's to ask if the performance accurately reflects their corporate image.

He noted that expletives broadcast during the 2002 and 2003 Billboard awards show eventually became a crucial part of the court case that overturned the Federal Communications Commission's indecency policy.

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