Lil Wayne Shares His Take on NFL’s Missed Opportunity for 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show Performance
Lil Wayne has shared his thoughts on being excluded from performing at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime show in his hometown of New Orleans.
In a recent cover interview with Rolling Stone, the 42-year-old Grammy winner expressed his dissatisfaction regarding the NFL’s choice to book Kendrick Lamar for Super Bowl LIX in February. Wayne elaborated on his feelings about the situation, saying, “They stole that feeling. I don’t want to do it. It was perfect.”
The rapper, known for the hit “A Milli,” revealed the lengths he went to in an attempt to land the halftime show slot. He mentioned, “To perform, there are a lot of things [the NFL] will tell you to do and not do, asses to kiss and not kiss.”
Wayne added, “If you notice, I was part of things I’ve never been part of. Like [Michael] Rubin’s all-white parties. I’m doing stuff with Tom Brady. That was all for that. You’ve never seen me in those types of venues. I ain’t Drake. I’m not out there smiling like that everywhere. I’m in the studio, smoking and recording.”
In September 2024, Lamar was confirmed as the performer for the 2025 Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime show. Shortly thereafter, Wayne expressed his disappointment through a video, stating, “It hurt a whole lot.”
Reflecting on the situation, he said, “I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown and for automatically putting myself in that position as if someone told me it was my spot.” He further expressed, “I thought there was nothing better than that spot and that stage and that platform in my city, so it hurt.”
In a December appearance on The Skip Bayless Show, Wayne revealed that he spoke with Lamar about the incident. “I’ve spoken to him and wished him all the best, telling him [he] better kill it,” he said during the interview.
