Did Jay-Z and Beyoncé take a knee at the Super Bowl?
Not literally, but in essence, they may have. As everyone stood while Demi Lovato belted out the National Anthem at Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the Carters along with their baby girl, Blue Ivy, remained seated. This comes even after Jay-Z’s now six-month partnership with the NFL went into effect.
READ MORE: NFL coach says he supports player protest movement ‘I’ve been stopped because I fit the description’
On Sunday, Jay and Bey sat a few rows from the field and remained seated even while everyone around them stood, including their bodyguard, according to TMZ. DJ Khaled came by and dapped up the fam while the pair were seated.
Talk about a statement.
Yet for all the optics, and the new PSAs rolled out by the NFL that spotlight police brutality, racism, the criminal justice system and other important causes, Colin Kaepernick still hasn’t been signed to a team.
In November, Kap had a practice session just outside of Atlanta and his reps sent his combine footage to 25 NFL franchises. Initially, sources told ESPN that some teams were interested in pursuing Kaepernick, 32, and that it may take weeks for a contract to materialize, but that it was coming. This hasn’t happened, and now sources speculate that it won’t. The quarterback has been out of work for over three years, ever since he started taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem, in protest of police brutality and social justice inequities. Kaepernick’s last NFL job was as quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, who happened to be playing in the big game Sunday night, which he took to the Super Bowl in 2013.
The NFL would contend that they have tried to work with Kaepernick, but he is not cooperative.
The league blames Kaepernick for switching up on his NFL scheduled workout in Atlanta and moving the session to Riverdale, which is roughly an hour away. Twenty-five NFL teams showed up at the Atlanta Falcons’ practice facility, but when Kaepernick moved it to Riverdale after potential problems with a liability waiver, only seven teams showed up.
Jay-Z took some flack from Kap’s girlfriend when he partnered with the NFL.
The rapper countered that he would bring issues important to Black America to the league’s leadership.
READ MORE: The Kaepernick Effect: Is Jay-Z’s new deal with the NFL a conflict of interests?
However, this is not all activism for the billionaire emcee from Brooklyn. He is also spearheading entertainment for the league and his Roc Nation partnered with the NFL and Pepsi to bring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira to co-headline a high-energy Super Bowl Halftime Show.
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