Every year the Super Bowl brings together major artists for the halftime show, break advertisements and cameos. Following this year’s major event that was Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5 are the chosen ones to perform for 2019’s half-time show, but they definitely weren’t the first choice.
Just last week reports surfaced by Us Weekly that none other than Rihanna was offered to headline the show next year, but turned it down in support of NFL big shot and racial justice advocate Colin Kaepernick. As stated by Us Weekly:
“The NFL and CBS really wanted Rihanna to be next year’s performer in Atlanta. They offered it to her, but she said no because of the kneeling controversy. She doesn’t agree with the NFL’s stance.”
For a quick backstory ICYMI: At the start of a 2016 NFL game, 49’ers player Colin Kaepernick chose to kneel during the Star Spangled Banner as a protest to police brutality. Although the gesture was taken out in good intent, Kaepernick faced copious amounts of backlash, starting a public response for the urge to remove players from the field immediately who protest, or even fire them. As a result of this, Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL as they were apparently colluding to not hire him.
Despite the hate surrounding Kaepernick as a figure, he’s still highly regarded for standing up for human rights and is in many good books to this day, including Rih’s.
Rihanna’s actions seem to have sparked a movement amongst celebrities and affiliations with the NFL, as comedian Amy Schumer recently spoke out about her personal decision to remove herself from the sporting event and deny a commercial cameo.
@amyschumer says she won’t do any Super Bowl ads this year in support of @Kaepernick7 pic.twitter.com/fcmh2a7NoG
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) October 20, 2018
Any thoughts that protest banning by the NFL and controversies surrounding them would be blown over and forgotten in a few months have completely disheveled. It’s only a matter of time before the next A-lister speaks out on the issue which could end up being a widespread Super Bowl boycott.
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Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt
Cover image via Facebook @rihanna.
