It wasn’t just conservatives who were mad at the Super Bowl and NFL last night, mainly over the obvious wokeness and leftism behind the singing of the so-called “black national anthem” and the grotesque, racy displays in Rihanna’s performance. Leftists were mad too, though for very different reasons.
They were furious for Rihanna for being the “biggest sellout,” tearing into her for ending her pro-Kaepernick boycott of the NFL Super Bowl halftime performance. As background, Rihanna was offered the opportunity to perform during the 2019 Super Bowl. She refused, citing her supposed solidarity with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. PEOPLE, reporting on that at the time, said:
“Yes they asked her and yes, she declined,” a source with knowledge of the situation told PEOPLE, adding that the decision was likely made in support of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, known for kickstarting the #TakeAKnee movement.
After the news first broke on Thursday, Amy Schumer quickly stepped in to applaud the Fenty Beauty mogul, 30, and suggest that it would be “cool” if Maroon 5, who are expected to perform at the 2019 Super Bowl, followed Rihanna’s lead.
“Wouldn’t it be so cool if @adamlevine and @maroon5 stepped down too? What do you guys think?” Schumer wrote on Instagram, alongside a headline covering the story.
Replying, comedian Kathy Griffin wrote “That is feminine power my friends, that is feminine power! Good for her!”
Schumer, at the time, also backed out of the Super Bowl commercial she was set to perform in, saying “Friday thought. I wonder why more white players aren’t kneeling. Once you witness the truly deep inequality and endless racism people of color face in our country, not to mention the policy brutality and murders. Why not kneel next to your brothers? Otherwise how are you not complicit?”
Similarly, Breitbart reported at the time that Kaepernick thanked her for turning down the Super Bowl performance opportunity and that rapper Cardi B also turned down an opportunity to perform, saying:
Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick publicly thanked pop star Rihanna for boycotting the Super Bowl on social media Monday.
In a series of posts to her Instagram, Rihanna mocked people who watched the Super Bowl, posted a picture of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling, and wrote, “for those of you who thought I was watchin super bowl…we beefin.”
[…]Rapper Cardi B declined an opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl over the NFL’s treatment of Kaepernick as well.
“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,” she said last week.
So Rihanna got all the top, Trump-hating wokies on her side. But then she let them down by accepting the opportunity to perform during this year’s Super Bowl. Predictably, the same sorts that cheered her in 2019 were furious with her for breaking the boycott. Here are some of those tweets:
Rihanna is the biggest sellout of the past 5 years, I support Kaepernick in 2019 so I decline to do the SB halftime show, funny how people change up, I'm not being woke, she's showing how much she actually cared about Kaepernick being blacklisted, not at all!
— I Am Amanda (@BehindDemisLin3) February 12, 2023
Side note: in hindsight, out of practice would have been a better choice of words. I did not speculate on pregnancy because that would have been too disrespectful and my choice of words may have been worse!
— J. Myrle Fuller (@fullerwx) February 13, 2023
@rihanna remember when you turned down performing at the Super Bowl in 2019 for dumbass reasons??? But 4 years later it’s all good, Colin Kaepernick hasn’t been relevant…..Better pay now????
— Ryan Smith (@pandalorian84) February 13, 2023
Anyone remember when Rihanna said she wouldn’t watch football again until Kaepernick was back in the nfl
— Damien Wilson (@DamienRWilson) February 13, 2023
Rihanna turned down performing in Super Bowl 2019 in solidarity with Kaepernick. So….wassup? What changed?@rihanna
— PizzaLover (@LoveCopperBoo) February 13, 2023
What’s changed is that the NFL has gone even more woke since 2019, putting woke slogans in the end zones and putting names of black men killed by police on jerseys, along with woke slogans on helmets, after the death of George Floyd and resulting BLM “mostly peaceful protests.”
By: Will Tanner. Follow me on Twitter @Will_Tanner_1
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