Lil Wayne Reveals What Happened Before 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show Announcement, Including What the NFL Allegedly Asked of Him

Rapper Lil Wayne was not happy when Kendrick Lamar was chosen over him as the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show performer.

If you don’t know, Wayne‘s hometown is New Orleans, where the game was played. He’s speaking out in an interview and sharing that he was led to believe he’d be chosen by the NFL.

Keep reading to find out more…

Lil Wayne alleges the “league encouraged him to be more public facing in preparation for the show, making him feel like the selection was inevitable.”

He told Rolling Stone, “To perform, it’s a bunch of things they’re going to tell you to do and not do, asses to kiss and not kiss. 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 sh-t with Tom Brady. That was all for that. 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 stu’, smokin’ and recording.”

He said after Kendrick Lamar was announced, the NFL called to apologize and apparently told him, “We ain’t in charge.” That likely is referencing that Jay-Z‘s Roc Nation heads up the halftime show and he allegedly personally chooses who performs.

“All of a sudden, according to them, they got curved. So, I’m going to have to just settle with whatever they say,” Lil Wayne added.

While he says things are fine with him and Kendrick - and that Kendrick called him before the halftime show to chat – he did not end up watching the performance.

Lil Wayne shared that, instead, he played pool with Lil Twist during Kendrick‘s set.

“Every time I looked, it was nothing that made me want to go inside and see what was going on,” he shared. He also said he won’t consider performing at the Super Bowl halftime show ever again, saying, “They stole that feeling. I don’t want to do it. It was perfect.”