Rihanna also said no to the NFL in 2018 for the same reason, telling Vogue in 2019, “I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”
So, when she said yes to headlining the halftime show in 2023, she explained to British Vogue, “There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes, but it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level.”
And, coming a year after Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar held court, that meant “two Super Bowls back to back, you know, representing the urban community, globally.”
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