Viewers blasted Rihanna for breaking her boycott of the Super Bowl to perform at the halftime show on Sunday, saying she abandoned her principles. In 2018, when former 49ers quarteback Colin Kaepernick enacted his kneeling campaign in protest of the National Anthem over police brutality, Rihanna said she would not be performing at the halftime show in solidarity with him.
According to People at the time, a source close to the singer confirmed that she was indeed offered a chance to perform at Super Bowl 2019 alongside Maroon 5 but ultimately declined the offer.
“Yes they asked her and yes, she declined,” the source said, adding that Colin Kaepernick and the #TakeAKnee movement was “likely” a deciding factor.
News of Rihanna’s boycott tickled the virtue-signaling nerve of various celebrities, including feminist icon Amy Schumer. “Wouldn’t it be so cool if @adamlevine and @maroon5 stepped down too? What do you guys think?” Schumer wrote on Instagram.
The next day, Schumer announced that she would no longer be performing in Super Bowl commercials and called on Maroon 5 to follow Rihanna in her boycott.
“Friday thought. I wonder why more white players aren’t kneeling. Once you witness the truly deep inequality and endless racism people of color face in our country, not to mention the policy brutality and murders. Why not kneel next to your brothers? Otherwise how are you not complicit?” she wrote.
“I think it would be cool if @maroon5 backed out of [the] super bowl like @badgalriri Did,” she continued, adding that she had already “told my reps I wouldn’t do a Super Bowl commercial this year.”
Well, as the halftime show on Sunday proved, Rihanna did not follow through on her boycott. People did not let her live it down: