 Rihanna first performed "S & M" at the BRIT Awards on February 15, 2011, as part of a medley which incorporated two of her previous singles from Loud, "Only Girl (In the World)" and "What's My Name?". Rihanna had planned to perform "S & M" only, to coincide with its release as a single in the United Kingdom, but she was instructed by the BRIT Awards corporation to "tone down the sexual references in the song's lyrics". The singer was reported to be angered at being requested to change her act and that she was asked to consider performing a different song instead. She changed the arrangement because the BRIT Awards corporation wanted to avoid complaints similar to those received following the finale of the seventh series of The X Factor, on December 11, 2010. Rihanna was criticized for wearing a provocative outfit and for performing a suggestive dance routine on The X Factor, branded as "disgusting", before the watershed, a system in the United Kingdom which does not allow adult content to be broadcast before 9 pm.
