A petition urging Maroon 5 to drop out of the Super Bowl LIII halftime show has attracted over 40,000 signatures. The movement comes after Rihanna reportedly turned down the deal because she disagrees with the NFL's decision to fine players who kneel while the National Anthem is playing.
Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, began the protest in 2016 when he started to kneel during the National Anthem to highlight racial inequality and police brutality. Now fans are taking things a step further by pleading with the group – fronted by Adam Levine – to be inspired by Rihanna's reported actions and refuse to play during the sporting event on 3 February 2019.
˜Kaepernick risked his career to take a knee for equality, and the NFL punished him for it, the petition reads. Until the league changes their policy and support players constitutional right to protest, no artists should agree to work with the NFL. Join me in asking Maroon 5 to drop out of the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show. Rihanna is not the first major artist to turn down the Super Bowl halftime show. Jay-Z turned down a request to perform at the 2017 Super Bowl, and even addressed it in his 2018 song Apeshit. The lyrics say, said no to the Super Bowl: you need me, I don't need you. Every night we in the endzone, tell the NFL we in stadiums too, while the music video shows a line of men on one knee.
In other news, Rihanna is taking things up a notch to work with the athlete on making a positive change in a fun and powerful way all in the name of social justice reform; our sources believe that this collaboration has something to do with one of her music videos. Sources close to the situation have exclusively told Metro.co.uk that the Wild Thoughts hitmaker and Colin are excited to push boundaries together.
The insider said: Colin was overwhelmed when he found out Rihanna turned down the Super Bowl to stand with him in his protest against anti-black violence and injustices. He'd heard a little while before the rest of the world did and since then they have been speaking regularly and have decided to work on something related to social justice reform. ˜They're both leaders in their lanes and believe they have the power to inspire positive change in a fun and powerful way. Yes, RiRi! We stand awoke and creative Queen.