The NFL had refused Eminem from taking the knee during his halftime Super Bowl LVI 2022 show performance
Performing along with Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Mary J Blige and 50 Cent at the NFL Super Bowl halftime show, rapper Eminem put on a show as he performed his Grammy and Oscar winning song, Lose Yourself at the SoFi Stadium.
Eminem Took The Knee At The Super Bowl 2022 Halftime Show Despite Being Asked Not To By The NFL
This is it. Right here. Eminem takes a knee as Dr. Dre plays Tupac’s I ain’t mad at cha on the piano. Here’s when I lost it pic.twitter.com/uDIaSYJJB8
— Luis Miguel Echegaray (@lmechegaray) February 14, 2022
Eminem the GOAT for kneeling even after the NFL told him not to do it pic.twitter.com/b64NL2Rz63
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) February 14, 2022
Happy Dre Day !! @drdre @snoopdogg @maryjblige @kendricklamar @50cent @AndersonPaak 🙏🙏🙏 @NFL #SBLVI #PepsiHalftime https://t.co/PR3WJxVDaK pic.twitter.com/3b7Vdq2zNJ
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) February 14, 2022
However, it wasn’t only his performance which made him the talk of the town. The rapper made heads turn his way after he took the knee at the end of his performance with him seen kneeling down and placing his head in his hand, a gesture which has been widely used since the Black Lives Matter movement erupted in US.
Taking the knee was first started by quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the country’s national anthem at NFL games in a bid to protest against police brutality against black Americans and call for racial justice. While Eminem had been refrained from doing the action during the Super Bowl as he performed it during rehearsals, he decided to defy the pleas with him pulling it off nonetheless.
Eriq Gardner had reported that the NFL didn’t want the Super Bowl to become a divisive culture war moment. The league had gone onto refuse Snoop Dog from wearing an outfit which had gang ties and had also gone onto remove Dr. Dre’s lyric from Still D.R.E. which said “still not loving police.”
Dre had spent $7 million to put on the bygone halftime show. The league had apparently also removed lyrics from Kendrick Lamar’s Alright, ones which said, “We hate po-po / Wanna kill us dead in the street for sure.”
While Eminem has not commented on the reason for taking the knee, it is said to be in solidarity with Colin.
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