Amid Super Bowl Flap, a Message From Adam Levine

Maroon 5 singer says he thought hard about halftime show, those angry at him 'will be heard'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2019 7:10 AM CST
Adam Levine to Fans Angry About Super Bowl: 'We Got You'
Singer Adam Levine watches an NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 11, 2018, in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

"We got you." Per ET.com, that's Adam Levine's cryptic message on what he and Maroon 5 will do Sunday during the Super Bowl LIII halftime show, a performance the band is getting a lot of flak for from fans angered by the NFL's treatment of Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players who have kneeled during the national anthem. Levine, who'll be performing with rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi, says he "absolutely 100%" got introspective before making the decision to do the show, adding, "No one thought about it more than I did. ... I silenced all the noise and listened to myself, and made my decision about how I felt." He says he took in all the feedback from people upset he's performing and that "they will be [heard]—that's all I want to say because I don't want to spoil anything."

Maroon 5 also announced it will donate $500,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for social justice initiatives. Rolling Stone notes other high-profile artists, including Rihanna and Cardi B, rejected the opportunity to perform at halftime to show their support for Kaepernick. A petition urging Levine to drop out of the halftime show has amassed more than 110,000 signatures. If Levine's not going to renege, one big name says he should at least do something else during halftime as a show of solidarity: former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who says Levine and the other performers should "take a knee on stage in full sight," as Waters and his band did at a Connecticut concert in 2017; he posted a video Wednesday on his Facebook page showing them doing so. Read Waters' statement on the subject here. (More Super Bowl stories.)

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