During his performance at the Super Bowl halftime show, rapper Eminem briefly got on his knees – a sign of political protest against social injustice.
Los Angeles – Rapper Eminem caused a stir on Sunday (local time) at the NFL finals “Super Bowl” with his hit song “Lose Yourself”. Apparently in reference to ex-football pro Colin Kaepernick, he knelt down after the performance. Kaepernick initiated the gesture in 2016 as a sign of protest against racism and social injustice and triggered years of political controversy in the USA*. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has been unemployed in the NFL since 2017. The gesture is also known as a symbol of political protest against police violence and discrimination.
Eminem has been successful for more than 20 years – and is also known for provocations. In the media and social networks, the 49-year-old, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, received a lot of attention for the contribution to the NFL final *. Some suspected Eminem took a knee against the organizers’ wishes. However, the National Football League (NFL) was quick to comment: “We looked at all elements of the show during several rehearsals this week and knew that Eminem would do it,” a spokesman said, according to dpa USA Today.
Super Bowl 2022: Racism controversy in the NFL
The National Football League is currently under criticism for discrimination allegations. According to afp, US President Joe Biden* told NBC that the league “consists of so many colored athletes (…) and not enough qualified African American coaches to manage these NFL teams”. Even NFL boss Roger Goodell admitted “that they failed to meet their commitments,” Biden said.
Only five coaches of the 32 teams come from a US minority. Two of them are Black – in a league where 70 percent of the players are Black. Black coach Brian Flores, who was fired from the Miami Dolphins in early January, sued the NFL and three clubs for discrimination.
Super Bowl halftime show inspired by hip-hop, R&B and rap
In addition to being a huge sporting event, the annual Super Bowl is also a huge platform for the advertising and music industries. In 2022, for the first time, the Super Bowl halftime show was all about hip-hop, R&B and rap. For the show, the field where the Los Angeles Rams played the Cincinnati Bengals was transformed into a giant map of Los Angeles.
Dozens of dancers stood on stage together with the musicians. In addition to Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar also joined the recently accused Snoop Dogg on stage for sexual abuse. Rapper 50 Cent had a surprise performance. The Rams eventually won* the game 23-20 against the Bengals. (tk/afp/dpa) *fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
