Adam Levine and Maroon 5 are being urged to pull out of performing at the Super Bowl halftime show in support of former NFL player Colin Kaepernick.
More than 44,000 people have signed a petition on change.org calling on the group to cancel their plans to perform at the sporting event in Atlanta on February 3 next year.
According to the petition, “Kaepernick risked his career to take a knee for equality, and the NFL punished him for it. Until the league changes their policy and support players’ constitutional right to protest, no artists should agree to work with the NFL.”
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, 31, was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem in a peaceful protest against police brutality and racial inequality in 2016. He has not played since that season and last year filed a grievance against the league and its owners, accusing them of colluding to keep him off the field.
US Weekly exclusively revealed in September that the Grammy-winning band had accepted an offer to perform at the Super Bowl, with multiple sources later telling Us that Cardi B is “being considered” as a special guest.
Maroon 5 have yet to officially confirm their involvement, but Levine, 39, did little to dispel the rumors during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Friday, November 16.
“It’s definitely a rumor. And the rumor’s a rumor that everyone seems to be discussing. It’s the Super Bowl. It’s a great event and there’s gonna be a band performing — or an artist of some kind — at halftime. And it’s gonna be great, regardless of who it is,” the Voice judge said. “Whoever is lucky enough to get that gig is probably gonna crush it. … Whoever does it is probably equal parts nervous and excited. This is all speculative ‘cause I don’t know who I’m talking about.”
In October, Amy Schumer urged the band to reconsider performing at the show, while Us exclusively reported that Rihanna had decided to skip performing at the Super Bowl because she “supports Colin Kaepernick.”
Jay Z also claimed on his song “Apes—t” that he had also turned down an offer to headline the show, and Pink, who sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl this year, also reportedly said no.
