Report: Jay-Z turns down Super Bowl in support of Kaepernick

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The Super Bowl is only a few months away and the halftime performer has still not been announced.

Around this time last year, Lady Gaga announced she would perform in the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show in Houston.

The year before that Beyonce took the Super Bowl halftime stage with a controversial performance with a nod to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Her husband, Jay-Z, has reportedly turned down an offer to be the main event at this year’s half time show at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Source magazine’s website first reported Jay-Z refused to participate because of the protests ignited by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Other sites, like Sports Illustrated and Pro Football Talk, later picked the story up.

“I’m not surprised by that at all and I’m actually glad that people are using their platform in this way,” said Jason Sole, NAACP Minneapolis president.

Sole hasn’t watched football all season and doesn’t plan on watching the Super Bowl.
He is encouraging all black entertainers to bow out of the halftime show if they agree with Kaepernick’s protests.

Toki Wright is a local Emmy award-winning hip hop artist. He raps about social issues like police brutality and climate change. Wright says it’s a tough call to make.

“At the end of the day people like checks and they like to get paid and you’re always going to find an artist whose willing to do it, but the question is are they willing to put their credibility on the line?” said Wright.

A spokesman for the NFL gave Fox 9 the following statement:

"No decisions have been made on the performer(s) and we are not going to speculate on particular artists. Along with Pepsi, we know that we will put on a spectacular show. When it is time to announce her name we will do it. Or his name. Or their names."

The spokesman would not elaborate on when or how the announcement of the halftime act would be made.