Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance interrupted by pro-Palestine protestor
Kendrick Lamar’s half-time show at the NFL Super Bowl LIX was interrupted by a protester carrying a Palestinian flag.
During his performance at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, a man jumped onto a car that was being used during Lamar’s performance and carried a flag bearing the words ‘Gaza’ and ‘Sudan’, which incorporated both nations’ flags.
The protestor who was believed to be a production cast member, was dressed in a similar all-brack outfit to Lamar’s dance crew. The New Orleans Police Department said in a statement quoted by the Associated Press that it was “working to determine applicable charges in this incident.”
“The individual will (be) banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told the Associated Press in a statement. “The individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show. No one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent.”
After the protester was escorted from the field immediately after the incident, the game continued as scheduled and resulted in a 42-20 win for the Philadelphia Eagles against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Lamar’s performance was highly anticipated, as it marked the Grammy winner’s first time headlining the iconic event. With the anticipation came an elaborate stage show, full of dancers, fireworks and special guests.
The anticipation was fuelled by curiosity over whether he would perform his monster hit, ‘Not Like Us,’ which is well known for its brutal takedown of fellow rapper Drake.
“I want to play their favourite song… but you know they love to sue,” said Lamar, a couple of minutes into the show. After continued teasing over the song throughout the set, Lamar finally gave the audience what they wanted while censoring the song’s most contentious lyrics in which he calls Drake a “certified paedophile”.
Elsewhere, there were appearances from Tennis star Serena Williams, who performed the Crip Walk – a notorious Los Angeles dance move – alongside Lamar on stage. Additionally, actor Samuel L Jackson played a part in the show as a version of ‘Uncle Sam’, adding context to the storytelling of Lamar’s show.
In usual fashion, Lamar’s show explored the conflict between ego and insecurity, using a giant noughts and crosses board to do so, switching between introspective song (inside the Xs) and his more commercial chart hits (inside the Os).
Jackson’s narration would either criticise Lamar for his self-indulgence, or praise him when presenting himself as palettable, hinting towards the wider pressures of being a mainstream artist.
The lead single from his sophomore album To Pimp A Butterfly and subsequent civil rights anthem ‘Alright’ was left out of the set. And many had anticipated a bigger political statement from Lamar, especially with President Donald Trump in attendance.
Trump was in attendance at the game, with his daughter Ivanka and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, before leaving the stadium slightly before the end of the game.
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