Years before Adam Levine’s cheating scandal, he was making headlines for different reasons – but they also weren’t great.
Rihanna may be performing at this year’s show, but in 2019, she actually declined the opportunity, according to a source.
”Yes, they asked her, and yes, she declined,” a source told People after Maroon 5 were confirmed to have filled the slot.
The source noted that Rihanna’s decision to decline was likely linked to what happened to Colin Kaepernick, an American civil rights activist who was also a football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.
In 2016, Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem instead of standing at the start of NFL games in protest of police brutality, racial inequality, and oppression in the United States.
His protest received mixed reactions, and notably, then-President Donald Trump called for NFL team owners to “fire” players who protest during the national anthem.
After the 2016 season, Kaepernick remained unsigned to a team and became a free agent. In November 2017, be filed a grievance against the NFL and its owners, in which he accused them of colluding to keep him out of the league.
In February 2019, Kaepernick reached a confidential settlement with the NFL and withdrew his grievance.
Ahead of the 2019 half-time show, however, over 117,000 people signed a Change.org petition asking Maroon 5 to back out of the show to support Kaepernick and the #TakeAKnee movement.
They did not.
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