9th October, 2019
Rihanna has confirmed she turned down the chance to headline February’s Super Bowl halftime show in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick.
Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback was the first player to protest police brutality and social inequality during the national anthem, when he chose to sit and later kneel in the beginning of the 2016 season while the anthem played.
Kaepernick has been out of the NFL since leaving the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, and he later settled a case with the league in which he alleged he had been blackballed by team owners for his protests.
In an interview with Vogue published online on Wednesday, Rihanna was asked whether she had turned down the Super Bowl in solidarity with Kaepernick.
She said: “Absolutely.
“I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people. 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.”
February’s show was instead headlined by Maroon 5, who garnered underwhelming reviews for their performance.
Cardi B was also approached to headline the show but turned down the chance as a show of support for Kaepernick.