How the Super Bowl halftime show became the NFL’s most visible protest battleground

“Just…why? Aren’t we taking a stand?” asked Deja Vu, a host on New York R&B station WBLS, last Monday evening. She and DJ Enuff were discussing the previous day’s Super Bowl halftime show announcement: Travis Scott and Big Boi will officially join Maroon 5 on the country’s biggest stage. At WBLS, rapper Big Boi’s participation was the primary point of concern. “Although I feel like a hypocrite, because you know I’m gonna be having a Super Bowl party,” she continued. “That’s the problem,” said Enuff. “We’re torn.”

That announcement came belatedly, in large part thanks to simmering resentment of the NFL among a number of entertainment industry heavyweights.

Many celebrities in music, film and beyond supported Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality and systemic injustice early on — but the saga that’s unfolded since has made ignoring the NFL’s political heft nearly impossible. Colin Kaepernick used his platform to insist that America’s institutions need to value and protect black lives just as they do white ones — and the league hasn’t employed him since.

If there are two Americas, as the social media-fueled shorthand suggests, that reality has made it obvious which one the NFL will take a stand for — and it’s not the same one that includes either the vast majority of its players or many popular musicians. So once Kaepernick’s unemployment became nearly impossible to explain credibly without using the word “blackball,” those artists found the one place where they could exert their influence on his behalf inside the monolithic NFL: the Super Bowl halftime show. As a result, what used to be one of music’s biggest honors — a sign of reaching a transcendent level of stardom — has become the league’s largest remaining platform for dissent.

Stars from Jay Z to Rihanna to Cardi B refused music’s most coveted invitation and explicitly cited Kaepernick’s unemployment as the reason, fueling the public’s growing dissatisfaction with the way the league has handled Kaepernick’s protest. Currently, the “#BoycottNFL” hashtag is almost exclusively attached to posts declaring their support of the quarterback and activist — not those expressing their anger at players who have continued his protest.

Weeks went by, and still there was no confirmed performer; in contrast, Lady Gaga’s halftime set was confirmed by the league on Sept. 29, 2016 and Timberlake’s on Oct. 22, 2017.

Rumors about Maroon 5 headlining started in September but instead of confirming and promoting the show, the league stayed quiet. In response, Vic Oyedeji started a Change.org petition to get the band to drop out of the show that eventually garnered 85,000 signatures. That delay was already unprecedented, at least as long as the Super Bowl halftime show has featured megastars and not marching bands. Though Super Bowl performers don’t get paid — expenses and production costs are covered — it’s by far the largest available platform to promote new music or an upcoming tour. Gaga and Timberlake, for example, both timed new album releases to coincide with their performances. More broadly, the halftime show has long been a way to cement your status in a class of music icons: Michael Jackson, Prince, Beyonce, and now... Maroon 5.

One reason for the delayed announcement was the need to flesh out the supporting cast — the last band to perform at the halftime show was Coldplay, who were joined by Bruno Mars and Beyonce (in what, by any account, was a scene-stealing turn in which she held up a fist surrounded by women dressed as members of the Black Panther party). Also troubling was the fact that the Super Bowl was taking place in what’s arguably hip-hop’s current capital, Atlanta, and yet the band was struggling to find a local act to join them. In late November, Adam Levine commented on the reports about Maroon 5’s Super Bowl booking to Variety, saying only, “I’m still formulating a lot of things.”

The real backlash, though, started with reports that Travis Scott would be among the band’s guests. Immediately, Jay Z, Meek Mill, and even the Rev. Al Sharpton took the rapper to task.

“I think anyone that goes into the halftime show is in effect directly violating those that want to raise the question that the NFL should come to terms with what they have done and continue to do to Colin Kaepernick and those that protest on criminal justice issues,” Sharpton told TMZ. “I think he should do what a lot of other major artists have done — say, ‘I’m not going to participate.’ You can’t fight against Jim Crow and then go sit in the back of the bus.”

“Hopefully, it’s not true,” said actor Michael B. Jordan of the Scott rumors, also to TMZ. “We are trying to stand behind something right now. It’s like, we all have to collectively try to do that.”

At that point, it became abundantly obvious that for any artist, performing at the Super Bowl halftime show would be as much of a liability as it might be a boon for their career. It’s a somewhat surprising twist, too, given that those who heard the NFL’s death knell when Kaepernick’s protest was at its zenith have largely been quiet as ratings rebounded (from a dip that was probably more tied to changing technology than anything that happened during the anthem) and conversations around social justice and CTE hit a lull.

While protest against police brutality and systemic injustice had been all but stifled on the gridiron itself — Eric Reid and Kenny Stills continued to kneel through the last regular season game of the 2018 season — a line had been drawn in the sand: believing that Kaepernick’s protest was brave and important was in direct conflict with participating in the NFL’s annual spectacle.

In the wake of Sunday’s official lineup confirmation, the conversation around the halftime show has exploded, and likely not in the way the NFL and Pepsi would prefer. “It’s moronic on the one hand that [Maroon 5] are even doing it,” an unnamed publicist told Billboard. “It’s not the biggest gig of your career when more than 50 percent of the world hates you for making the choice. I think it hurts their brand and it’s a total mistake on their part.” Maroon 5, Big Boi and Travis Scott are all affiliated with Full Stop Management, which is in turn affiliated with Irving Azoff – one of the single most powerful managers in music.

Scott attempted to buffer himself against criticism by “partnering” with the NFL to donate $500,000 to Van Jones’ non-profit Dream Corps, whose social justice-oriented mission recently was spotlighted in legislation enacted by President Donald Trump. “I back anyone who takes a stand for what they believe in,” Scott said in a statement. “I know being an artist that it’s in my power to inspire. So before confirming the Super Bowl halftime performance, I made sure to partner with the NFL on this important donation.” On January 15h, Variety reported that Scott and Kaepernick had spoken before Scott agreed to perform and “while the two did not necessarily agree, they emerged from the conversation with mutual respect and understanding.”

Kaepernick’s longtime girlfriend, Nessa Diab, is a host on Hot 97; in response to the Scott news, she tweeted, “There is NO mutual respect and there is NO understanding for anyone working against @Kaepernick7 PERIOD. #stoplying” — which Kaepernick retweeted. Ebro Darden, who hosts Hot 97’s morning show, added, “Kap did not approve this bullshit! Get the fuck outta here....” — also retweeted by Kaepernick. Oyedeji updated his petition to ask that the artists performing at halftime take a knee in protest during their set. The response was unequivocal, and illustrates just how important a battleground the Super Bowl has become for musicians debating whether or not to take advantage of its massive reach.

When Gladys Knight, an Atlanta native, announced that she would be performing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, she felt compelled to address Kaepernick specifically. “I understand that Mr. Kaepernick is protesting two things, and they are police violence and injustice,” she told Variety in a statement. “It is unfortunate that our National Anthem has been dragged into this debate when the distinctive senses of the National Anthem and fighting for justice should each stand alone.”

But for Kaepernick and those who stand with him, any participation looks like an untenable compromise, and Scott’s donation like quid pro quo. One of Kaepernick’s most recent retweets makes that line of thinking explicit. “$500K to Dream Corps for Travis Scott to strike a deal and walk past the Cardi B/Rihanna/others protest line,” tweeted an account with the handle @RzstProgramming. “In 2016, The NFL also committed cash to Dream Corps in the Players Coalition deal brokered by Malcolm Jenkins. Dream Corps now in two NFL #PaidToNotProtest schemes.”

It’s clear that a metaphorical picket line has been drawn — and Gladys Knight, Maroon 5, Big Boi and Travis Scott have crossed it.