‘I just couldn’t be a sellout’; Rihanna discusses why she turned down 2018 Super Bowl performance

There is still a lot of discussion regarding Rihanna’s half-time performance at Super Bowl LVII; be it the pregnancy reveal, or the symbolism behind wearing her red outfit through the choice of songs she performed in the medley.

But this wasn’t the first time Rihanna had been approached by the National Football League to perform at their annual, star-studded American Football championship. But as a point of principle at the time, during a series of polarizing actions sweeping sport and entertainment, the Barbadian singer turned down the offer.

Speaking to British Vogue, Rihanna talked about the offer the NFL made to her in 2018 to perform at Super Bowl LII, which ultimately saw Justin Timberlake perform in front of a global audience. It was during this time that NFL linebacker Colin Kaepernick was making headlines for taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem, in protest of the police brutality he felt was endemic in black culture.

Taking the knee elicited a diverse range of responses, with then President Trump weighing in and referring to Kaepernick as a “son of a b**ch” while some Army veterans praised the San Francisco 49er for his actions, stating that their sacrifice is why the football player can undertake such a form of protest.

That led to Kaepernick being effectively blackballed from playing in the NFL, with a hesitance for any team to pick him up because of the league’s dim view of his political statements and the nature of his protests upsetting "conservative" Americans during the MAGA era. Those actions prompted Rihanna to turn down the opportunity to perform during Super Bowl LII.

“There’s things within that organisation that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way” Rihanna stated, followed by deftly summing up her situation at the time; “I just couldn’t be a sellout.”

“There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes,” she continued, “but it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level. [...] representing the urban community, globally. It is powerful. It sends a really strong message.”

Rihanna also cited the Super Bowl LVI half-time performance, curated by Dr. Dre and featuring a who’s who of talented, black performers including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige, as an important moment for representation on a platform of the Super Bowl’s magnitude.

Rihanna also took into account how motherhood also changed her stance on using the Super Bowl as a platform for representation; “raising a young Black man is one of the scariest responsibilities in life. You’re like, ‘What am I leaving my kids to? This is the planet they’re gonna be living on?’ All of those things really start to hit differently.”

You can read the full interview with Rihanna on the British Vogue website.