Jay-Z was once a staunch Colin Kaepernick supporter, shedding light on the former NFL player's activism, advocacy, and protesting regarding racial injustice in the United States. But after Roc Nation inked a deal with the league to work together on social justice initiatives and halftime shows, the dynamic changed. Kaepernick felt like Hov was selling out to quell protests, whereas Jay felt like this was more significant action than protesting.
This recently came up again thanks to Jay-Z's freestyle at his Yankee Stadium show, which referenced the Kaepernick situation. He claimed the athlete had taken a check that came with a non-disparagement clause while also dismissing criticism of his Target partnership amid the Black community's boycott and dismissing "Twitter activists" who are angry at his actions.
Alleged sources close to Colin Kaepernick called Jay-Z out after the freestyle. They denied claims Kaepernick signed a non-disparagement clause and clarified a deal between them amid lawsuits and claims of blackballing remains private.
Colin Kaepernick himself responded to Jay-Z already, claiming the freestyle indicates a "guilty conscience" and an attempt to repair the reputation of the NFL and Roc deal. But he has more to say about this.
Colin Kaepernick On Jay-Z
At the National Black Footwear Forum in Detroit yesterday (Saturday, September 12), hosted by the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design according to FOX 2, Jemele Hill interviewed the former NFL player about his upcoming book, The Perilous Fight. Furthermore, at one point, they discussed Hov's freestyle, as caught by 2Cool2Blog on Instagram.
"I was very surprised by it," Kaepernick expressed. "I'm living rent-free there. We are seven years post-him doing that deal. While you're doing the anniversary tour to celebrate your best work, that's the thing that's most top-of-mind for you. That's pretty remarkable, how bothered he is by that. It speaks to a guilty conscience around it. The response in the wake of him doing that deal was broadly people being like, 'You sold the protest out, you sold us out.' He made the infamous comment of 'We're past kneeling.' [...] The comparison of 'I took a deal, he took a deal,' typically the people you can't control, you don't do deals with... Because the NFL blackballed me... it's drastically different than coming in on the back of the NFL saying, 'We need a Black face to stop the protests.' [...] They tried to offer me a deal..."
