Update (February 5, 2020): Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s decision to sit during the national anthem rendition at Sunday’s Super Bowl apparently wasn’t a decision at all. 

In fact, they didn’t even realize they were sitting until someone told them. 

At a Columbia University Q&A, the “Holy Grail” rapper explained it "was not premeditated at all," reports Page Six. 

“It actually wasn’t. Sorry,” he said when asked if his actions were intended to make a statement. “I’d tell you. I’d say, ‘Yes, that’s what I’ve done.’ I think people know that about me.”

The entertainment mogul explained they were seated during Yolanda Adams' performance of “America the Beautiful.” Since Beyoncé famously performed during Super Bowl halftime shows in 2013 and 2016, she was giving her husband insight on how Adams might be feeling. 

“What happened was, we got there, we were sitting, and now the show’s about to start. My wife was with me and so she says to me, ‘I know this feeling right here.’ Like, she’s super nervous because she’s performed at Super Bowls before. I haven’t,” Jay-Z said.

Jay, who has a say in musical performances for the league because of his partnership with the NFL, said he was focused on the logistics of the performance. 

“So we get there and we immediately jump into artist mode. Now I’m really just looking at the show,” he said. “Did the mic start? Was it too low to start? I had to explain to them as an artist, if you don’t feel the music, you can’t really reach that level.”

When Demi Lovato came out to perform the national anthem, they were still in “artist mode” and hadn’t recognized they were still seated until he got a phone call. 

“We’re talking about how beautiful [Lovato] looked, and how she sounds and what she’s going through, and her life. For her to be on the stage, we were so proud of her. And then it finished and then my phone rang. And it was like, ‘You know you didn’t…’ I’m like, ‘What?'”

He also added he would have never put his daughter, who attended the Super Bowl with her famous parents, in that position. 

“Blue was right next to us, we wouldn’t do that to Blue and put her in that position. And if anyone who knows Blue, if we told her we were going to do something like that, you would have seen her attacking me 100 times,” the 50-year-old went on. “She’s the kid that gets in the car and closes the door and says, ‘Are we there yet, daddy?’ So she would say, ‘What time? Are we doing it? Are we doing it now? It’s 7:05 daddy. It’s 7:06.'”

With Latina artists, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performing at halftime, the father of three said he didn’t need to sit in order to make a statement.

“We were making the loudest statement … and we had … a commercial running social injustice during the Super Bowl. Given the context, I didn’t have to make a silent protest,” he said. 

Original (February 3, 2020): Beyoncé, Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy stayed seated while Demi Lovato sang the national anthem at Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, reports TMZ.

The famous couple was at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to watch the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers. Beyoncé seemed to still have enjoyed Lovato’s rendition, as she was seen swaying back and forth during the performance.


Last year, Jay-Z faced backlash after some believed he turned his back on Colin Kaepernick when Roc Nation signed a deal with the NFL, according to Vox. The rapper was one of the free agent's biggest supporters.

The partnership between the entertainment agency and the football conglomerate gives the “Run This Town” rapper influence over the NFL’s music events, including the biggest one — the Super Bowl halftime performance. Shakira, who performed alongside Jennifer Lopez on Sunday night, is a Roc Nation client.

The deal also brought Roc Nation into the league’s “Inspire Change” initiative, which was launched in collaboration with the Player’s Coalition. The initiative focuses on “education and economic advancement, police and community relations, and criminal justice reform.”

Co-founder of the Player’s Coalition, Anquan Boldin, appeared in a 60-second commercial during the Super Bowl, where the retired football player told the story of his cousin Corey Jones, who was shot and killed by a police officer in 2015, reports CBS. The officer was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Roc Nation asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to pledge $100 million over the next 10 years on social justice outreach and causes.

“Roger is amazing and we couldn’t be doing this without him,” Desiree Perez, the chief executive of Roc Nation, told the New York Times. “He has been so supportive of us and is critical to us making change at the N.F.L.”

After announcing the partnership in August, Jay-Z said he didn’t mind the criticism if it means he can use a platform such as the NFL to spark change.

“As long as real people are being hurt and marginalized and losing family members, then yes, I can take a couple rounds of negative press,” he said.

While Kaepernick is still blackballed from the league, despite having a workout session for the NFL back in November, Jay-Z said he is looking forward, beyond just the quarterback.

“No one is saying he hasn’t been done wrong,” he told the New York Times of the former 49ers player. “He was done wrong. I would understand if it was three months ago. But it was three years ago and someone needs to say, ‘What do we do now — because people are still dying?’”

Obviously, conservatives were big mad, so Black folks on Twitter had big laughs. 

They'll get over it. 

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