Legendary rapper Eminem paid the ultimate homage to former NFL star Colin Kaepernick by kneeling during the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022.
The halftime show is already being considered one of the greatest of all time as it featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar. Some have even put the dazzling spectacle in their top five alongside the previous halftime performances by the likes of Michael Jackson, Prince, Bruno Mars and Beyoncé.
However, it was the fact that Eminem finished his smash hit “Lose Yourself” by kneeling that got a lot of people’s attention.
Eminem took a knee during the #SuperBowl halftime show
📽️: @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/dKowy7lpei
— Jennifer X. Williams (@JenXperience) February 14, 2022
Kaepernick began kneeling in 2016 to protest rampant police brutality and judicial injustice. Kaep was summarily castigated by mainstream America for his bold stance. Following the season, Kaepernick was not resigned by the San Francisco 49ers and was unofficially exiled from the league.
According to Buzzfeed News, the NFL went to great lengths to remove any political statements or references to police violence against Blacks. The league reportedly tried to nix Eminem’s plan to kneel, though they denied it to the media.
Eminem was not the only one the NFL tried to censure. Lamar’s bars, “We hate po-po / Wanna kill us dead in the street for sure,” was forbidden from being uttered during the show. Also, Dre’s lyrics “still not loving the police” was edited out from his hit single “Still D.R.E.”
Plenty of folks saluted Eminem for his stance, though some wished that he had uttered Kaepernick’s name while kneeling.
Eminem kneels after NFL asked him not to. Don't tell a goat how to behave#SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/AYSnXknk2J
— Meri’ (@0kayItsMeri) February 14, 2022
Eminem is the man. Great to see him take the knee after his performance.👏👏 #SuperBowl #PepsiHalftime pic.twitter.com/fqmsag66Fc
— Max (@nordstrom_max) February 14, 2022
so i know that everyone in this bar being mostly silent for the halftime show until eminem came on ISNT a hate crime…but it feels like it is
— first-mate prance (@bocxtop) February 14, 2022
Meanwhile, multiple celebrities were blown away by the halftime performances of the ’90s icons who remain formidable artists.
