Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl half time show was thrown into chaos by a protestor. A protester waving a Palestine flag disrupted the Super Bowl LIX halftime show performance. The man stormed the field during the break as millions watched rapper Lamar perform 'TV Off' at Caesars Superdrome in New Orleans. He was seen holding a two-part flag representing Palestine and Sudan. Security staff quickly pursued him onto the field, apprehended him and promptly escorted him off the stage.
The incident was not aired to viewers on ITV or Sky Sports in the UK, reports the Express. The individual had been wearing all black clothing and stood on the black vehicle which was part of Kendrick's set. The flag read: "Sudan" and "Gaza" and was completed with a black heart. He later jumped off the vehicle and started running across the pitch. Initially, it seemed as though the protest was part of Kendrick's performance but it later emerged that this was not the case. After a short period of time, three members of the security rushed onto the pitch and apprehended the person. After close to one minue, the person was escorted off the pitch around the 45 yard line.
But undeterred by the incident, Kendrick carried on with his performance including his hits as well as his Drake diss track, Not Like Us. He kicked off the performance with Squabble Up before going into HUBMLE. Kendrick's dancers dressed in all red, white and blue outfits to replicate the American flag while the rapper dressed in blue jeans, a baseball cap and a leather football-style jacket. However, as he performed across the field, fans complained they couldn't hear him. One wrote on X: "Kendrick’s mic being quieter than everything else is really putting a damper on this performance." Another added: "They need to raise Kendrick’s mic volume lol," while a third added: "My TV on 60 & I’m still having a hard time hearing Kendrick. They need to turn up the mic or something idk".
Despite the apparent sound issues, Kendrick's performance was lapped up by fans as one said: "Not going to lie Kendrick Lamar's performance brought me to tears. I've been such a huge fan for so long and the whole production was beautiful." Another added: "THIS MAN KENDRICK LAMAR JUST SMILED IN THE CAMERA AFTER COOKING DRAKE LMFAOOOOOO". The rapper has spent months preparing for the performance, which is billed as one of the biggest gigs of the year in the US – with Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna and Usher all taking to the stage to entertain Super Bowl fans in the past. As Kendrick was announced as this year's Super Bowl halftime headliner, he said in a statement: "Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date. And I'll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.".
But the rapper recently admitted he struggled to decide on his set list for the historic moment in his career. Appearing at the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show conference, he said: "It's wild. Mr. Morale is like an hour and thirty minute tour, so you gotta smack this s**t down all the way to 13 minutes!". "It's kind of wild and it's interesting, because it lets you know kind of where you at in your perspective, how you think about catalogue and music. For me, I love being present, I love being present, man.
"It's very hard for me to live in the past, it's very hard. I respect the past, wholeheartedly, but being in the now and being locked into how I feel and the energy I have now, that's the LA energy for me. That's something that I wanted to carry over to New Orleans and for the world to see. This is me, this is Kendrick Lamar, 37-years-old and I still feel like I'm elevating, I'm still on the journey, though, you know? I want that energy to ooze out into the televisions and to the people that's in that building.".
