NEWS
Lil Wayne has revealed he’ll never play a Super Bowl Halftime Show and says the NFL “fucked up”.
When it was announced that the 2025 Halftime Show would be hosted in New Orleans, several prominent rappers like Nicki Minaj and Birdman argued Wayne should have played his hometown show over Kendrick Lamar, who went on to headline instead.
However, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Wayne has revealed that despite campaigning for the spot, the NFL “fucked up”. He told the magazine that “to perform, it’s a bunch of things they’re going to tell you to do and not do, asses to kiss and not kiss.
“If you notice, I was a part of things I’ve never been a part of,” he continued. “Like [Michael] Rubin’s all-white parties. I’m doing shit with Tom Brady. That was all for that. You ain’t never seen me in them types of venues. I ain’t Drake. I ain’t out there smiling like that everywhere. I’m in the stu’, smokin’ and recording.”
However, when Wayne was snubbed in favour of Lamar, he claimed that NFL apologised to him as the league “ain’t in charge” of the Halftime Show: “All of a sudden, according to them, they got curved. So, I’m going to have to just settle with whatever they say.”
As a result, the rapper told Rolling Stone he didn’t watch Kendrick Lamar’s performance, saying: “Every time I looked, it was nothing that made me want to go inside and see what was going on.” He also added that after the debacle, he would never play a Halftime Show if offered the chance: “They stole that feeling. I don’t want to do it. It was perfect.”
When the news broke that Lamar would play the Halftime Show over Wayne, he initially responded to the snub by admitting that it “hurt a lot”: “I blamed myself for not being mentally prepared for a let down which is automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody told me that was my position. So I blamed myself for that.”
Lamar would go on to reference the snub when he surprise-dropped his new album, ‘GNX’ in November last year: “Used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud / Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down”.
Wayne took to social media to respond to the namecheck, writing: “Man wtf I do?! I just be chillin & dey still kome 4 my head. Let’s not take kindness for weakness. Let this giant sleep. I beg u all. No one really wants destruction, not even me but I shall destroy if disturbed. On me. Love.”
However, Wayne eventually said he and Lamar made up over a phone call, adding: “I’ve spoken to him, and I wish him all the best and I told him he better kill it. He gotta kill it.”
In other news, Lil Wayne has announced the release date for ‘The Carter VI’.
Lewis Capaldi reportedly picked up the bill for an entire pub packed with England supporters following their dramatic World Cup win against Mexico.
The singer songwriter was spotted enjoying the match with Rita Ora at the Marlborough pub in Mayfair as the Three Lions secured a thrilling 3 to 2 victory.
Even though his home nation, Scotland, endured a disappointing tournament and were knocked out during the group stage, Capaldi still joined in the celebrations after the final whistle by treating the England fans in the pub to a round of drinks.
“Lewis bought every single person in the Marlborough a drink,” one customer told The Sun. “The bar staff were told to put every drink ordered on his tab. By the end of the night it came to almost £2,000.”
The pubgoer continued, saying it was “such a generous surprise and a genuinely lovely thing to do, especially from a Scotland fan… Lewis was an absolute legend. Not only did he buy everyone a drink, but he was also so kind to every person who came over to say hello.”
Ora also posted several videos from the lively celebrations, writing: “NOTHING beats a London pub game EVER… It’s coming home!!! The fact I woke up with my hair clips in and my hair has not moved says. Watch it till the end… trust me.”
Throughout the celebrations, Capaldi and Ora sang each other's songs before joining the rest of the crowd in celebrating England's victory by chanting, “Football’s coming home, it’s coming home…”
The celebrations come just before Capaldi headlines BST Hyde Park this weekend. The Scottish singer songwriter is set to perform at the London concert series on both Saturday, July 11, and Sunday, July 12.
Those huge outdoor performances are part of his UK and Ireland headline tour this summer, and any remaining tickets can be found here.
Capaldi recently revealed that one of the BST Hyde Park concerts will also be streamed live worldwide on YouTube.
The performance will be the biggest headline show of his career so far. Fans across the globe will be able to watch for free on YouTube without a paywall. The broadcast will feature 26 cameras capturing every moment, along with aerial footage filmed by drones.
Joining him on the July 11 BST Hyde Park lineup are The Vaccines, Absolutely, Nieve Ella, Tyler Ballgame, Kerr Mercer, NECKBREAKERS, Benjamin Steer, Luz, Sebastian Croft, and Luke La Volpe.
Meanwhile, England will face Norway in the World Cup quarter finals on the same evening as Capaldi's opening BST Hyde Park performance.
