The halftime show during Super Bowl LVI on Sunday received rave reviews by most everyone watching, but then entered the spotlight for a reason unrelated to the music itself.
The star-studded show at SoFi Stadium, which featured Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent, made headlines after rapper Eminem took a knee mid-performance, likely in solidarity with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Reports surfaced shortly after how the NFL previously had told Eminem he was not allowed to do so.
Those reports, however, turned out to be false, according to rapper and record producer Dr. Dre.
“Em taking a knee — that was Em doing that on his own,” Dr. Dre told TMZ in a video shared Tuesday. “And there was no problem with that.”
It confirms what one NFL spokesperson told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer on Sunday immediately following the halftime show.
Dr. Dre, also known as Andre Romelle Young, shared how the other artists taking part in the performance had to make “minor” tweaks to their lyrics in order to comply with the league, but explained that nobody took exception to it.
“All in all, everybody came in — we were professional, everybody was on time, and everybody really felt the magnitude of what this thing was and what we were gonna be able to accomplish,” he told TMZ. “And it was a fantastic experience.”
Fans who watched likely will agree.
