As the public and celebrities alike continue to sound off on their issues with or backing of Jay-Z’s newly scored NFL deal, producer Bryan-Michael Cox has indicated Jermaine Dupri had been offered a similar deal a year ago.
But in a twist, Jay-Z supposedly adviced the So So Def founder to turn it down, Cox said in an August 14 radio show chat that has now gone viral.
Addressing the criticism Jay has encountered after announcing last week that he has been tapped to handle the league’s Super Bowl halftime show as the “live music entertainment strategist” and launch a social justice initiative, Cox said he’s “not saying it can’t turn into some good s—.”
But he then spilled some information about how Dupri, with whom Cox has worked with on hit songs by Jagged Edge and Usher, was on tap to land a similar gig in 2018. But things went in another direction.
“We’re also talking about a guy who single-handedly picked up the phone and called Jermaine to tell him not to do it,” Cox said on No Chill Radio at around the 14:35-minute mark.
“When we all had that meeting with the NFL, all that s–t was part of the same s–t,” he said after noting he took the time to make sure it was the same deal as Dupri’s own.
“I have to see how it unravels,” he went on. “I’m not going to condemn it and be like, ‘That s–t’s wack.’ … For me, I want to look at it intelligently because I know a lot of what was happening before and how we were engaged last year as a community. It’s like if you knew that, why would you pick up the phone and call? … At the end of the day, [Dupri] took a beating for doing the same s–t. And I guarantee you they didn’t pay him as much as they’re about to pay dude.”
Cox noted free agent Colin Kaepernick and Carolina Panthers player Eric Reid — who started kneeling for pregame performances of the national anthem in protest of police brutality and criminal justice bias against Black Americans in 2016 — should be involved in Jay’s social justice initiative, which is called “Inspire Change.”
The details of the deal Dupri was offered compared to Jay’s deal are not clear. However, the Atlanta-based mogul was responsible for a series of pre-Super Bowl LIII concerts in his hometown, where the NFL title game was played in February.
While Dupri and Jay have kept mum on Cox’s account, folks online have been weighing in — including Funkmaster Flex, who allegedly spoke to JD. According to the famed DJ, Dupri said Jay called him up last year.
“I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH JERMAINE DUPRI… HE CONFIRMED THAT WHEN HE WAS WORKING WITH THE NFL LAST YEAR HE DID GET A CALL FROM JAYZ ASKING HIM.. ‘HOW DEEP ARE U IN WITH THE NFL?’ EXPRESSING… ‘THAT MIGHT NOT BE A GOOD IDEA,’” read Funk Flex’s Monday tweet.
“Did it include social justice and the team ownership that we’re hearing about or does it just seem to be similar at this time?”
“He serves him right. Imagine a 50yr old asking another man if he should make a power move or not 😂😂😂”
“Well yeah, he conned him out of a deal he wanted. He’s all about doing business.”
