MSNBC host Joy Reid said Monday on her show “The ReidOut,” the Super Bowl’s “very black” halftime show did not go over well with conservatives.
MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson said, “Another post-season game that came down to the final seconds. The Rams beating the Bengals after Matthew Stafford and MVP Cooper Kupp connected late for a comeback win. All in front of a hometown crowd that has only happened twice in Super Bowl history and in this brand-new stadium in Inglewood.”
Ried said, “Rappers love to shoutout Inglewood—Dr. Dre, Snoop, Tupac all did it. I was just there, and it feels like a west coast Harlem, but really it’s a one-time black enclave that’s more half black, half Latino these days, and it is a community in transition.”
Johnson said, “A huge transition. We are talking the Super Bowl spotlight, an NFL franchise, and $5 billion stadium.”
Reid said, “That is billion with a B. And speaking of spotlights, Snoop and Dr. Dre were in the house for an epic Gen-X, west cost, hip-hop, very black halftime show — sorry Millennials. You can’t claim this one. And boy, did that not go over well with the right-wingers.”
Johnson said, “Sure didn’t, Joy.”
Reid said, “You had conservative activist Charlie Kirk tweeting ‘The NFL is now the league of sexual anarchy. This halftime show should not be allowed on television.’ Ok, what does that even mean? Then you have Sean Spicer of short-lived White House and ‘Dancing with the Stars’ infamy asking, ‘What was the message of the halftime show?'”
Johnson said, “Does Sean Spicer get to ask about messaging? Come on.”
Reid said, “No, he doesn’t. The biggest Super Bowl moment wasn’t about a play or rapped about or sung. The big moment is Eminem kneeling in an apparent tribute to Colin Kaepernick. The NFL was aware he would kneel and did not try to stop him, despite reporting saying the opposite. Here is the thing for folks with PTSD about a certain Janet Jackson incident, the NFL always tried to sanitize blackness during the Super Bowl—from the halftime performances to players taking a knee, and it especially does not want to dabble in the culture wars now and tick off the conservative fan base.”
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