Reports say rapper Jay-Z will headline the halftime show for Super Bowl LXI, and the choice is already drawing criticism, jokes, and the kind of online chaos that arrives whenever the NFL puts a major celebrity at center stage. The article’s blunt pitch is that viewers may dislike this year’s performer, but at least the performance will be in English. That framing follows last year’s halftime performance by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, which received backlash after he performed in Spanish.
Fox News reported that Jay-Z’s selection raises a conflict-of-interest question. According to Puck News, Jay-Z reportedly selected himself over Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, who were considered finalists for the halftime show. TMZ had previously reported that Harry Styles was also among the frontrunners for the February performance.
Jay-Z and his entertainment company, Roc Nation, have been producers and decision-makers for the Super Bowl halftime show since 2019. That makes the reported arrangement rather convenient. The company involved in choosing the performer is also connected to the performer now reportedly chosen. Apparently, when you help run the selection process, the shortest route to the stage may be choosing yourself. No need for a complicated talent search when the talent-search committee is already holding the microphone.
The 56-year-old rap icon is scheduled to wrap up his four-city tour with back-to-back shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Oct. 23 and 24. The Jay-Z 30 Tour celebrates the 30th anniversary of his 1996 debut album, “Reasonable Doubt.” Puck News reported that the tour grossed more than $42 million across three consecutive nights at Yankee Stadium in July, so Jay-Z is hardly walking into the halftime spotlight without a résumé.
Social media users did not wait for a formal announcement before weighing in. One post accused Jay-Z of preferring himself over white artists, writing, “Jay-Z would rather book himself for the Super Bowl than book a white artist like Carrie Underwood or Morgan Wallen. This is the very definition of racism.” That was a social media opinion, not an official finding, but it captured the anger surrounding the reported decision.
Another user took a family-centered swipe at the announcement, writing, “Jay Z: I have the most perfect Super Bowl Half Time Show artist of all time. Beyoncé: who? Jay Z: Me”
A third post went for darker humor, claiming, “Jay-Z has selected himself and Harvey Weinstein to perform at the 2027 Super Bowl Halftime Show.” It was another example of the mockery spreading online, rather than a report of an actual performance lineup.
The New York Post noted that this would be Jay-Z’s first Super Bowl halftime performance. Beyoncé, his wife and the mother of their three children, headlined the halftime show at Super Bowl 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She later returned as a special guest alongside Bruno Mars during Coldplay’s headlining performance at Super Bowl 2016 in Santa Clara.
Jay-Z, a 25-time Grammy winner, has not released an album since 2017’s “4:44,” which went double-platinum. His tour success and long recording career give him plenty of star power, but those accomplishments do not erase questions about how this halftime decision was made. The controversy is not only about who takes the stage. It is also about a company involved in producing and deciding the show being connected to the performer reportedly selected. That makes the arrangement look less like an open competition and more like an insider’s shortcut with a very famous name attached.
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