Four years ago, Colin Kaepernick stirred controversy when he took a knee during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice in the United States.
On Sunday, Beyonce, Jay-Z, and their 8-year-old daughter Blue Ivy remained seated during Demi Lovato's performance of the national anthem before the start of Super Bowl LIV, People reported.
The incident comes six months after Jay-Z inked a deal with the NFL to act as a consultant on entertainment for the league while actively contributing toward its activism campaign reportedly designed to bring about change.
"The NFL has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive," Jay-Z said, according to The New York Times. "They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good."
Beyonce and Jay-Z drew criticism on Twitter for not standing. One user called them a "disgrace."
Jay-Z's deal with the NFL sparked debates on whether he was undermining Kaepernick's cause, but in a statement with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the rapper dismissed that idea.
"I think that we forget that Colin's whole thing was to bring attention to social injustice so in that case this is a success," he said, according to TMZ. "This is the next thing. There's two parts of protest: the protest, and then there's a company or individual saying, 'I hear you, what do we do next?' For me it's about actionable items, what are we gonna do about it?"
Kaepernick sparked a movement when he first knelt during the national anthem at a game in 2016. It was not long before waves of protests spread across other sports fields, but the act left the quarterback unable to sign with another team after he departed the San Francisco 49ers in 2017.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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