JAY-Z Details New Partnership With The NFL
JAY-Z is setting the record straight about his new partnership with the NFL.
Wednesday at a press conference, the music mogul fielded questions about the entertainment and social awareness initiative, alongside NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. According to Jay, the venture will help to further the work of former San Francisco 49ers star Colin Kaepernick.
“We forget that Colin’s whole thing was to bring attention to social injustice…this is the next thing,” Jay told reporters.
Jay continued, “There’s two parts of protesting: You go outside and you protest, and then the company or the individual says, ‘I hear you. What do we do next?’ For me, it was like [an] actionable item: ‘What are we going to do with it?’ We get stuck on Colin not having a job, and this is more than that.”
But when asked if Kaepernick was involved in the partnership, Jay noted that he’s not the football player’s “boss, and said he’d leave that up to Kaepernick to decide. Jay claimed he’s had several conversations with Kaepernick regarding the partnership, but he didn’t offer any details.
Kaepernick’s girlfriend Nessa Diab denied Jay’s claim, however, tweeting on Wednesday:
THIS is a lie. COLIN never spoke to Jay-Z and NFL ahead of that deal being done. They NEVER included him in any discussion 👉🏽 https://t.co/TWmoXS4JVJ pic.twitter.com/2bjSIEtnjQ
— NESSA (@nessnitty) August 14, 2019
But Jay did reaffirm his support for Kaepernick and the importance of protesting.
“If protesting on the field is the most effective way, then protest on the field,” he said. “But if you have a vehicle that can inspire change and speak to the masses at the same time, it’s hard to steal the narrative away.”
As previously reported, the new merger calls for Jay’s Roc Nation to serve as the NFL’s “live music entertainment strategist,” and contribute to the league’s social activism campaign, Inspire Change.
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