Rihanna Explains Agreeing To Super Bowl After Rejecting Invitation For Kaepernick

Her Super Bowl halftime performance shocked fans in more ways than one, and Rihanna is still reeling from the attention. It was then that the singer revealed she was pregnant with her second child, but that wasn't the only thing that surprised fans. Years ago, Rihanna turned down the NFL's invitation to perform at the Super Bowl in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. The former professional football star was ensnarled in controversy for taking a knee during the National Anthem. The pushback caused several artists to issue a boycott of sorts, including Rihanna.

However, the hitmaker looks to have had a change of heart. She graced the Super Bowl stage and delivered almost 15 minutes of her classic records, and in an interview with British Vogue, Rihanna explained why she decided to perform. Years ago, she said she didn't want to "be a sellout," but now, representation was important. "There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes,” she said.

"But it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level," Rihanna continued. “Two Super Bowls back-to-back, you know, representing the urban community, globally. It is powerful. It sends a really strong message. Of course, raising a young Black man is one of the scariest responsibilities in life. You’re like, ‘What am I leaving my kids to? This is the planet they’re gonna be living on?’ All of those things really start to hit differently.”

“It’s this knowing that you can do anything, even things that seem the craziest, like, ‘I’m going to say yes to the Super Bowl in the middle of postpartum?’” she further added. “What the heck am I thinking? But you’re geeked on a challenge like that because you know what your body just did. You feel this sense of ‘Nothing is impossible.’” When Rihanna accepted the invitation to perform, she wasn't pregnant with her second child. Still, she decided to continue even after learning she was expecting.

“It was almost like an out-of-body experience,” she says of the day it was announced. “I have not been on stage in seven years. Seven years! From zero to Super Bowl? That’s mental.”

[via]