Whether at home or live in the stadium: For many spectators, the Super Bowl was once again the most spectacular sporting event of the year. Away from the sport, this year’s Super Bowl with its legendary halftime show also had a few surprises in store – partly to the annoyance of the NFL.
This year’s Super Bowl halftime show was a musical accompaniment of superlatives. Six superstars from R’n’B and HipHop shared the stage. These include Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J Blige. However, what the audience would see during their performances was originally clearly communicated and dictated by the NFL.
dr Dre should omit the line from “still DRE”.
But despite the agreed rules, some of the superstars didn’t stick to them. An insider revealed the site ,,Puck”that the NFL would like the rapper Dr. Dre is said to have asked in advance to omit his line “Still f***ing with the beats, still not loving police” from his track “still DRE”. The artist rejected this request, but made a compromise: the line remained, but the swear word was dropped.
Gesture of protest: Eminem shares solidarity with Kaepernick
Eminem, on the other hand, used his appearance for a political gesture – he got on his knees after his performance of “Lose Yourself”. The rapper obviously did this out of protest and solidarity. Former quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to perform the traditional raise while playing the national anthem at the stadium in 2016. At that time, he wanted to set an example against the oppression and police violence against blacks and people of color.
The kneeling caused a worldwide sensation. The gesture had far-reaching consequences for the player: Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since 2017. It wasn’t until 2020, when the “Black Lives Matter” movement sparked numerous protests against racism and police violence, that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell apologized to Kaepernick. According to “USAToday‘ he said, ‘I wish we had listened earlier to why he was kneeling and what he was trying to draw attention to.’ Eminem missed the NFL with his knee so a new lesson.
Celebrated on social media: Snoop Dogg lights up a joint
Another rap star who has obviously upset the NFL is Snoop Dogg. Although he made himself liable to prosecution, he lit a joint on the stage staircase. Snoop Dogg did not go unnoticed. Some fans filmed the rapper doing it and shared the video on social media. The recording has been shared over six million times on Twitter.
Warming up before going on stage for the Halftime Show. pic.twitter.com/dKs6AAzjK8
— Rafa El Alcalde (@ElalcaldeRafa) February 14, 2022