Between the exposure and notoriety with the main stage event, the Super Bowl halftime gig usually is a marquee spot for most artists.
With the distasteful manner in which the NFL has blackballed Colin Kaepernick, several influential artists ranging from Rihanna, Jay Z to Cardi B have been vocal about boycotting the Super Bowl this year. Maroon 5’s PJ Morton feels conflicted because he sides with Kap and says the event has been “spoiled” for him.
“You just want to be happy and excited to play and some of the negativity definitely made it not as fun initially”
Morton opened up to The Washington Post and further explained his ideologies behind why he ultimately decided to play at halftime.
There was conflict just because of all the rhetoric and all that I’ve seen around it. I guess I had to come to the conclusion that you can be employed by a corporation and still support the things that are being fought against. I can clearly say I am against police brutality against black and brown people at a higher rate, and I am for peacefully protesting. I stand for those things strongly, but I also think there are people who are employed by the NFL, who play football every week and support what Kaep stands for and those two things as well. I think we can perform for the NFL and the players can play for the NFL and we can support Kaep at the same time.
Some may disagree with his reasoning. Travis Scott has come under scrutiny after claiming Colin Kaepernick gave him the thumbs up to perform, which later turned out to be false.