Jay-Z Told NFL He Would Quit If They Didn’t Allow Halftime Show

The Super Bowl LVI halftime show, featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent and Mary J. Blige, was one to remember, and a triumphant moment for the culture that Jay-Z, the NFL's Live Music Entertainment Strategist, reportedly had to fight for.

During an interview with Tidal's Elliott Wilson, which ran on Friday (March 4), Snoop recounted the big moment and Hov's ultimatum to make it happen.

“Jay was the first one that came to the dressing room when I got offstage,” Snoop recalled. “We had [300 Entertainment CEO] Kevin Liles in there. Kevin Liles had Jay on FaceTime, trying to show him where we was at. So, then he came down, and soon as he came in, he hugged me. We hug each other tight. It was as if we won a championship. Like, you know when you’re genuinely happy for each other? People don’t understand, me and him are the ones. He’s the one on the East. I’m the one from the West.”

Snoop added, “We love each other. Like, not secretly, like publicly, we love each other. It is what it is, so it’s like for him to go to bat for us and tell the NFL, ‘Fuck that. They perform or I quit,’ that was the most gangster shit out of everything. Then with attire and kneeling and all this … you can’t wear your gang bang shit? Jay-Z hit me like, ‘Wear what the fuck you want to wear. Peace to the Gods.'”

Jay-Z and Roc Nation inked a deal with the NFL back in August of 2019, to oversee the League's entertainment options including the Super Bowl halftime show. The partnership was deemed controversial by some at the time, because it occurred at the height of tensions between the League and former quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Last year, The Weeknd performed at the halftime show. The year prior, in Miami, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira headlined the event. The Super Bowl LVI halftime show viewership this year was higher than the game itself, reportedly pulling in 103.4 million views.