Jay-Z Explains Why He & Beyonce Sat During National Anthem At Super Bowl

Jay-Z is responding to the backlash he drew for sitting during the National Anthem.

On Sunday (February 2), Hova made headlines alongside his wife Beyonce and daughter Blue Ivy after video footage circulated on social media showing the hip-hop royal family remaining seated as most others stood for Demi Lovato’s “Star-Spangled Banner” performance at Super Bowl LIV. Many football fans found the gesture disrespectful, claiming the so-called stunt silent protest was unpatriotic.

However, Jay would clear the air on the situation days after during a Q&A session at Columbia University. According to Page Six, when asked if staying seated was meant to “convey a signal,” the rapper said, “It actually wasn’t.”

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

“So the whole time we’re sitting there, we’re talking about the performance, and then right after that, Demi [Lovato] comes out and we’re talking about how beautiful she 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,” the 50-year-old continued. “And then it finished and then my phone rang. And it was like, ‘You know you didn’t…’ I’m like, ‘What?’”

To add, Jay said he would not have put his daughter in that predicament at all. Plus, given his prior knowledge of the already-politically-charged performance Shakira and Jennifer Lopez would deliver as the first Latinx Super Bowl headliners, he was sure that would be “the loudest statement.”

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