In some years, the revelation of the musical act for halftime of the Super Bowl is less relevant that the revelation of the ones who turned it down.
This year, the news that Maroon Five will handle the assignment barely made a ripple; we didn’t even write about it when the reports surfaced. But here’s something worth passing along: According to US Weekly, Rihanna declined an opportunity to perform before the biggest TV crowd of the year.
She passed reportedly because she supports Colin Kaepernick.
“The NFL and CBS really wanted Rihanna to be next year’s performer in Atlanta,” an unnamed source tells US Weekly. “They offered it to her, but she said no because of the kneeling controversy. She doesn’t agree with the NFL’s stance.”
And that’s the biggest news the anthem controversy has made in weeks. The president has left it alone, and those who had huffed and puffed about abandoning the NFL are no longer huffing and puffing (and, apparently, not abandoning, either).
It will be interesting to see whether the Commander-in-Chief has anything to say about this latest development. He’s been stunningly silent about the situation lately, even though he repeatedly had pushed the issue over the past year.