CELEBRITIES WHO REFUSED TO PERFORM AT THE SUPER BOWL AND WHY
PERFORMING during the Super Bowl halftime show may seem like a dream for many celebrities and you may wonder why some of them have turned the offer down.
Last night, R&B icon Usher headlined the show in Las Vegas and ahead of the show, he promised that fans will be in for a treat. In a recent interview, the artist gushed about the opportunity and said: “This is the most grand stage to ever play on. Those 13 minutes (on stage) mean everything. It’s been on my bucket list for a long time.
“I’ve been asked what are the things that matter the most and it’s obviously performing but being able to perform on that stage because all of these amazing performers throughout the years have graced it and did an amazing job, so that’s where the obsession with that starts,” he told Apple Music. But over the years, artists including Jay-Z and Adele have refused to play during the Super Bowl — and here, we explain why.
RIHANNA
Rihanna said she rejected the offer to play during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2019 due to political differences. In an interview with Vogue, she explained the reason for her refusal was an act of support for former NFL player and activist Colin Kaepernick, who took the knee during the national anthem to protest against police brutality in 2016.
Other players started to join in after the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback took the knee, but what became a widespread movement ended up receiving criticism from people such as then-President Donald Trump.
Trump said that NFL owners should “fire” players who protest during the national anthem, while Kaepernick became a free agent after the season and has remained unsigned ever since.
Pop star Rihanna said: “I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.” It was eventually headlined by Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Big Boi, who received a backlash from some quarters because of the “NFL’s refusal to acknowledge” the situation.
Eventually, the “Work” singer was asked to perform during the halftime show again a few years later and she accepted it. After making a U-turn, she headlined last year’s show and performed on a suspended platform despite being six months pregnant.
During an interview at Apple Music’s Super Bowl press conference, she said: “To go on the biggest stage in seven years, there’s something thrilling about the challenge of it all. It’s important for the representation and it’s important for my son to see that. That’s a big part of why I want to do this show, representing for my country, representing for immigrants, representing for black people. That’s a big part of why I wanted to do it.”
Taylor Swift
Last year, reports emerged that Taylor Swift was the favourite to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in Las Vegas. But the 34-year-old star reportedly turned down the gig as she wanted to focus on re-recording her first six studio albums.
And while she is expected to be at the big game this year to support her boyfriend Travis Kelce, she will not take part in the show itself. Instead, she is expected to be travelling from Japan, where she is performing her Eras Tour, to watch her boyfriend play.
Jay-Z
Jay-Z produced the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show starring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira but refused to perform himself. During an interview with the New York Times, the rapper revealed that he turned down the opportunity as the NFL wanted control over who he could bring out for the performance.
He said he was asked to perform his 2009 hit “Run This Town” with Kanye West and Rihanna but he refused as he was not happy about being told who to perform with. He told the outlet: “I said, ‘No, you get me.’ That is not how you go about it, telling someone that they’re going to do the halftime show contingent on who they bring. I said forget it. It was a principle thing.”
P!nk
P!nk performed the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in February 2018 and she was later offered the halftime gig for the following year. However, similarly to Rihanna’s reasoning, she explained she declined the offer to show support for Kaepernick.
She admitted she could face backlash for the decision as she said: “Everybody that does it gets so persecuted.” Protesting the NFL’s treatment of Kaepernick, she said: “I’d probably take a knee and get carried out.” P!nk added: “They should only give it, because of the controversy, to African-American or Latina women for a while.”
Cardi B
Cardi B also said she refused the offer to support Kaepernick as she explained: “I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.”
She also mentioned her ex-husband Offset’s complicated relationship with football due to his politics. She said: “He really wants to go to the Super Bowl, but he can’t go to the Super Bowl, because he’s got to stand for something.”
Adele
Another artist who declined the NFL’s offer to perform at the Super Bowl is Adele. During a 2016 concert in Los Angeles, she said she would not perform at the following year’s big game as she “can’t dance”.
She told the audience: “First of all, I’m not doing the Super Bowl. I mean, come on, that show is not about music. And I don’t really — I can’t dance or anything like that. They were very kind, they did ask me, but I said no.” But the day after the concert, the NFL and Pepsi released a statement saying they had never “extended a formal offer to Adele or anyone else.”