GettyCardi B turned down the offer to perform alongside Maroon 5 at the Super Bowlhalftime show in support of Colin Kaepernick.
In 2016, Kaepernick sparked controversy by kneeling down during the American national anthem played ahead of NFL games. He departed from the San Francisco 49ers, and is still without a team today.
According to the BBC, the quarterback explained that he was doing it to ‘stand with the oppressed’.
GettyHe said:
This stand wasn’t for me. This is because I’m seeing things happen to people that don’t have a voice, people that don’t have a platform to talk and have their voices heard, and effect change.
So I’m in the position where I can do that and I’m going to do that for people that can’t.
Super Bowl LIII is taking place today (February 3), and will see Maroon 5 take the stage for their huge performance at halftime.
In the past, artists such as Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga and Coldplay have had the honour of performing, and although Cardi B had the opportunity to join the list of big names, she turned it down.
She explained the choice was a tough one, but acknowledged it was the sacrifice that had to be made in order to stand by Kaepernick.
According to The Guardian, the 26-year-old said:
My husband, he loves football. His kids play football. It’s really hard for him … he really wants to go to the Super Bowl but he can’t go to the Super Bowl because he’s got to stand for something.
You have to sacrifice that. I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.
GettySpeaking to the Observer, Gerald Griggs, vice-president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP civil rights group, explained the organisation had contacted performers who had signed up for the halftime show to encourage them to reconsider their participation.
He said:
The majority of artists we’ve reached out to are standing in solidarity against the NFL. They do not want to be associated because of the protest that was started by Mr Kaepernick against racial injustice and police brutality.
Rather than playing at the Super Bowl, Cardi B played a concert for Saturday night and plans to host a party.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.