Lil Wayne has broken his silence on being passed over for next year’s Super Bowl halftime show in his hometown of New Orleans, admitting it “hurt a lot.”
Following outrage from peers and fans alike over the NFL’s decision to book Kendrick Lamar instead of NOLA’s own Weezy to perform at Super Bowl LIX on February 9, the Young Money leader finally addressed the situation in a video posted on Instagram early Friday morning (September 13).
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A solemn-sounding Wayne began by thanking those who have spoken up in his defence, saying: “First of all, I want to say forgive me for the delay. I had to get strength enough to do this without breaking. I’ma say thank you to every voice, every opinion, all the care, love and support out there. Your words turned into arms and held me up when I tried to fall back.”
He then shared his heartbreak and disappointment at the snub and blamed himself for getting his hopes up over the gig, which he had openly coveted prior to last week’s announcement.
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“That hurt. It hurt a lot. You know what I’m talking about. It hurt a whole lot,” he continued. “I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown, and for automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody told me that was my position. So I blame myself for that.
“But I thought that was nothing better than that spot and that stage and that platform in my city, so it hurt. It hurt a whole lot. But y’all are fucking amazing. It made me feel like shit not getting this opportunity and when I felt like shit, you guys reminded me that I ain’t shit without y’all… and that’s an amazing reality.”
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Wayne concluded: “So, like I said, it broke me and I’m just trying to put me back together. But my God, have you all helped me. Thanks to all of my peers, my friends, my family, my homies on the sports television and everybody repping me. I really appreciate that, I really do.
“I feel like I let all of y’all down by not getting that opportunity, but I’m working on me and I’m working. So thank you.”
Birdman, Juvenile, Master P and Boosie Badazz were among those who expressed disapproval over Lil Wayne not being picked as the 2025 Super Bowl halftime headliner.
Few were as vocal as Young Money disciple Nicki Minaj, though, who slammed the decision in an explosive social media rant.
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Nicki seemingly directed her anger at JAY-Z, who alongside Roc Nation has helped organize the halftime show since 2020, accusing him of denying Wayne the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity over personal greivances.
“Denying a young black man what he rightfully put into this game for no other reason but your ego. Your hatred for BIRDMAN, Drake & Nicki got you punishing Lil Wayne?!?!!! LIL WAYNE!!!!!!!!!! THE GOAT?!!!!!!!!!!!” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
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“Nola what’s good?!!!!!! Eminem stood firm on having 50Cent come out. A white man. Shit sad. House N-GGER TINGZ. but it’s GOOD FI DEM!!!!!!! No loyalty ? Welp. then n-ggaz will keep son’ing you!!!!!”
Appearing to throw more insults at Hov, Nicki added: “Got everything in the world. Still spiteful & evil. Disgusting. Be happy Abeg. Go be fkng happy n!gg@!!!!!!!! In rap business. In women business. When you got the Politicians & the police you good tho. Plus dat ugly laughy taffy alien.”
Nicki’s sentiment was echoed by Cam’ron, who also implied that his former Roc-A-Fella label boss was to blame for Wayne being overlooked.
“It’s one person who’s stopping this. It’s not really a secret. Lil Wayne had a problem with somebody before who’s kinda part of the organization running it,” he said on his sports talk show It Is What It Is, referencing Jigga and Tunechi’s past rivalry.
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“This is payback. Who’s Lil Wayne’s artist? Drake. This is crazy, bro. It’s ridiculous.”
He added: “Lil Wayne not to be performing in New Orleans for the Super Bowl is egregious, and it gotta stop.”
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Neither JAY-Z nor Kendrick Lamar have yet to address the backlash, although the Compton rapper did release a combative new song earlier this week hitting out at themusic industry, which some have interpreted as something of a response to the uproar.
