Juvenile Mad Lil Wayne Wasn’t Picked For Super Bowl Halftime Show, Doesn’t Blame Jay-Z

Armon Sadler
·3 min read

Kendrick Lamar being picked to perform at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show has many people angry due to Lil Wayne not being selected to grace the stage in his hometown of New Orleans.

Juvenile recently spoke up on the matter, but he clarified that he wasn’t mad at Jay-Z or any one person involved in the selection.

“So everybody wants me to speak on this Super Bowl situation,” he said in an Instagram video on Monday (Sept. 9). “Look, I’m mad about the situation just like y’all, but my hatred is towards the NFL — not really the people that booked the halftime show. I’m mad at the people that hired the motherf**kers that booked the halftime show!”

The 49-year-old rapper pointed out how 11 Super Bowls have taken place in New Orleans, yet not once has the NFL picked a local talent to take the stage. “I feel like every time y’all come here, y’all should have somebody from our city on the sh*t,” he added. “But this time it really hits hard when you don’t have Lil Wayne on the show. I don’t see how the f**k y’all don’t have Lil Wayne doing the halftime show. Somebody that has a whole bunch of f**king hits and somebody that really deserves it and somebody that can bring out multiple artists of all genres. Think about it.”

Juvenile continued his rant by calling out NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “So this goes to you, Roger Goodell, you need to get it right, man,” he asserted. “You coming to our city, sucking up our culture and making all this money and putting all this bread in your pocket and other people’s pockets and leaving us to hang out dry. It gotta stop.”

Despite the apparent snub, fans learned that it is neither the NFL nor Jay-Z and his associates who make the final call. According to the Charlotte Observer, a panel made up of the NFL’s director of entertainment, members of the NFL’s production company and the halftime show’s director and producer come up with a shortlist of artist names that is given to the host city for the Super Bowl. The host city then decides who they want.

However, this report was countered by a statement from Jay Cicero, president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and a Super Bowl LIX Host Committee member. “It is the NFL’s decision alone for all entertainment for the Super Bowl,” he told Andscape. “We found out about it at the same time everyone else did this past weekend.”

Lil Wayne’s engineer expressed his disappointment at Weezy F Baby not being selected, as well. “Confused. Disappointed. Angry. But most of all. Inspired,” Fabian Marasciullo wrote in an Instagram story. “Will never again be in a position or have the [goat emoji] in a position where we are at the mercy of someone elses decision. We will make the decisions.”

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