New Orleans native Lil Wayne is still upset he wasn’t selected to headline the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show in his hometown.
In a new Rolling Stone cover story interview, the rapper said the snub has put him off any future appearances at the NFL championship game.
“They stole that feeling. I don’t want to do it,” he told the outlet.
During the interview, Lil Wayne previewed his new album, Tha Carter 6, and again noted that the NFL missed out. “They coulda had some music… But instead they got rappin’,” he said in-between songs. “They f—ed up.”
Related: Super Bowl 2025 Scores Record Ratings With Eagles Win and Kendrick Lamar
Wayne wasn’t passive in pursuit of the halftime slot, which isn’t a paid appearance, but carries enormous cultural weight and exposure. He admitted he participated in certain events to broaden his appeal.
“To perform, it’s a bunch of things [the NFL is] going to tell you to do and not do, asses to kiss and not kiss,” he said. “If you notice, I was a part of things I’ve never been a part of. Like [Michael] Rubin’s all-white parties. I’m doing s–t with Tom Brady.”
He soon discovered that bending the knee in that manner would not pay off.
“That was all for that,” he said. “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 [studio] smokin’ and recording.”
Yet he still wasn’t chosen to perform at the Super Bowl. Instead, he said the NFL told him it wasn’t in charge of the Apple Music Super Bowl 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,” he told the outlet.
This isn’t the first time Lil Wayne has gone public with his disappointment over the Super Bowl snub. Shortly after Kendrick Lamar was announced for the slot in September 2024, Wayne posted a video that revealed his disappointment. “It hurt a whole lot,” he admitted (see below).
“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,” he explained.
“But I thought there was nothing better than that spot and that stage and that platform in my city, so it hurt,” Wayne said.
Despite his hurt, Lil Wayne said he doesn’t blame Kendrick Lamar.
“I’ve spoken to him and I wished him all the best and told him [he] better kill it,” he said before the event.
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