JAY-Z Turned Down Super Bowl Halftime Show To Take Out Rihanna & Kanye Despite Asking. Jay-Z's collaboration with NFL was talked about a lot, and in a new interview with the New York Times he shared some specifics about it, the criticism he got, and more.
Jay-Z had also signed a deal with the league to produce their annual halftime show in addition to coordinating some of the other music events on behalf of his company, Roc Nation. Turns out, Jay was himself offered to perform at Super Bowl halftime but he turned it down after he was asked to bring out Kanye West and Rihanna along with him as special guests.
“Of course I would have, but 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,” he explained. “I said forget it. It was a principle thing.” Hov didn’t specify which edition he was invited to do but we won’t be surprised if it was very recent.
He has previously spoken about “interview process” for selection of the halftime performer being “fractured,” as several musicians are pursued at once. “Take four of us and everybody thinks they’re playing the Super Bowl,” he explained last year. “
”So if I could pick one, three other people are upset. That’s not even good math. After three years nine people are upset and three people are going to play. I just think the process could’ve been more definite.”
The rap mogul’s involvement in the league was in response to the NFL’s controversial fight against Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who started the #TakeAKnee movement to protest racial injustices.
