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NFL Star Rips Kendrick Lamar For 'Whack' Super Bowl Halftime Show

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Feb 12, 2025 9:23 AM ET

Kendrick Lamar's halftime show at Super Bowl 59 has received mixed reviews over the past 48 hours. Even a few NFL players shared their thoughts on the Grammy-winning artist's performance.

Lamar's halftime show made history, according to Roc Nation. Apparently, there were 133.5 million viewers tuning in when he was performing. That would pass the previous record held by the late Michael Jackson. Some people are questioning that number from Roc Nation, especially former Fox Sports personality Jason Whitlock. He claims the "Not Like Us" rapper used the Super Bowl stage to "dump" on America.

"There's so much money in taking a dump on America and traditional sports fans," Whitlock said. "People didn't get it. They intended for you to be asleep. Or maybe Roger Goodell is smart. There's so much money in hating America that perhaps the NFL gave people exactly what they wanted."

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown didn't find Lamar's performance to be anti-American like Whitlock, but he wasn't impressed.

During the latest episode of his podcast, St. Brown said the Super Bowl halftime show was "whack."

"It was a whack Super Bowl to me, I'm gonna be honest," St. Brown said. "I wanted to be in it, but we didn't make it. Obviously, I'm going to watch the Super Bowl because I want to see who wins. From the game to the halftime performance, I thought it was whack."

St. Brown's brother, Equanimeous, didn't agree with his assessment of Lamar's performance.

"From the game to the halftime performance, it was whack."

Amon-Ra, Equanimeous and Osiris St. Brown give their thoughts on Super Bowl LIX ️ pic.twitter.com/YEIj632QmI
— St. Brown Podcast (@StBrownPodcast) February 12, 2025

Obviously, the discourse surrounding Lamar's performance hasn't been all bad. On Sunday night, NBA legend Magic Johnson had nothing but praise for the legendary rapper.

"Kendrick Lamar brought the house down tonight in his half time performance," Johnson wrote. "I loved his song selection and the production was amazing! Sza sounded great and I loved seeing my friend Serena Williams and my good friend Samuel L. Jackson as 'Uncle Sam.'"

USA TODAY writer Michael Sykes would agree with Johnson's review. Earlier this week, he had this to say: "Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show performance was spectacular."

Do you think Lamar's performance was worthy of the criticism?

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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