Even though Rihanna was born in Barbados and isn’t an American citizen, she’ll weigh in on American politics from time to time.
Like when she encouraged everyone to vote in the last midterm elections, then responded to someone who took a dig at her.
“Are you even a US citizen?” someone asked Rihanna at that time.
“Nah I’m an immigrant tryna get yo country together. Did u vote?” she shot back.
Rihanna has also been critical of Donald Trump, particularly in August of this year after the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
The pop star blasted Trump for his stance on gun control at that time and for not labeling the shooters, both white men, as terrorists.
Now, in a new interview with Vogue, the “Man Down” singer found herself discussing politics again, and she confirmed that she turned down an opportunity to play at the Super Bowl.
Because ever since Colin Kaepernick was criticized for protesting during the national anthem, and he wasn’t picked up by a team after leaving the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, the topic of artists working with the NFL has been a heated one.
In fact, Travis Scott, who played the last Super Bowl halftime show, got lambasted for doing so, and so did Gladys Knight for singing the national anthem. Outkast’s Big Boi was also criticized for his participation with the halftime festivities.
As for Rihanna, she said her decision not to play the Super Bowl was all about how the NFL conducts business and how they’ve treated Kaepernick.
“I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people,” said the singer and beauty mogul. “I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”
She also talked about blasting Trump after the mass shootings and his refusal to label the shooters terrorist.
“People are being murdered by war weapons that they legally purchase,” she stated. “This is just not normal. That should never, ever be normal. And the fact that it’s classified as something different because of the color of their skin? It’s a slap in the face. It’s completely racist.”
“Put an Arab man with that same weapon in that same Walmart and there is no way that Trump would sit there and address it publicly as a mental health problem,” Rihanna continued.
“The most mentally ill human being in America right now seems to be the president.”
