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League Officials Will Decide Future Halftime Performers
The National Football League (NFL) will decide future halftime performers after Kendrick Lamar‘s halftime show was dubbed “the worst halftime show ever.”
The NFL apologized to rap icon Lil Wayne after Jay-Z chose California rapper Kendrick Lamar as the halftime performer.
According to The US Sun, insiders say league officials “regret” their mistake after earlier issuing an apology to Lil Wayne, 42, for snubbing him in his hometown of New Orleans.
One NFL staffer told The U.S. Sun that the league wished they went with Lil Wayne as the halftime performer after fans were underwhelmed with Kendrick’s show.
“A mistake was made and we regret the choice that was made,” an NFL employee told The U.S. Sun.
“Lil Wayne should have been the first option, as he is from New Orleans and we know that there was a clear motivation for him and his side to do a unique show in his town.”
The staffer said league officials will choose the halftime performers from now on.
It isn’t clear what that decision means for rap mogul Jay-Z, who has chosen the halftime performers since 2019 when Roc Nation partnered with the NFL.
The NFL halftime show has a reputation for showcasing the best of the best. The halftime show is not the place for gang-affiliated rappers to publicly air their vendettas against fellow rappers.
One glaring problem for the NFL’s PR team was the halftime show’s emphasis on gang culture.
Kendrick is a known member of the Crips, a violent street gang based in Compton, California. He honored the gang by wearing a blue jacket – and he reportedly asked tennis star Serena Williams to perform the Crip Walk during his halftime set.
kendrick getting serena williams to crip walk while performing not like us is nasty work pic.twitter.com/sEGYgkvZcW
— kira ? (@kirawontmiss) February 10, 2025
The Crip Walk is footwork affiliated with the Crips gang.
Serena later confirmed that Kendrick’s people reached out and asked her to do the gang-affiliated footwork during his set.
She also wore the Crips blue gang color.
Super Bowl fans were shocked to learn that Serena’s older sister Yetunda Price was killed in a drive-by shooting by two members of the Southside Crips.
The fact that Kendrick and Serena both wore Crips blue colors to honor a violent street gang didn’t sit right with league officials.
The halftime show’s gang symbolism also fueled the widely held belief that Black people are violent by nature.
In more positive news, Kendrick’s halftime show was the most-watched in NFL history.
