Colin Kaepernick is breaking his silence on Jay-Z, and he is making it clear that their once public alliance has turned into something far more contentious.
The Jay-Z Kaepernick feud resurfaced after the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback addressed comments the rapper made during his July concerts at Yankee Stadium. In a new interview with NBC News, Kaepernick said he believes Jay-Z’s continued criticism reflects unresolved discomfort with decisions he has made since partnering with the NFL.
“First and foremost, what it speaks to is power of people,” Kaepernick said. “The backlash that [Jay-Z] received for partnering with the NFL and going counter to people’s interests in 2019 was a major problem for him, so much so that he’s still bringing it up in 2026.”
Kaepernick went even further when discussing what he believes is behind Jay-Z’s recent remarks.
“People are now realizing, ‘Why are you so comfortable stepping into these positions that are counter to the positions that people on the ground actually want?’ And to me, I view that as speaking to a guilty conscience and trying to reposition or reframe the conversation.”
The latest tension began during Jay-Z’s July 10 Yankee Stadium show celebrating the 30th anniversary of “Reasonable Doubt.” Yankee Stadium had announced the anniversary concerts earlier this year, while NBC News reported that Jay-Z used a freestyle during the performance to address criticism surrounding his business relationship with Target and bring Kaepernick into the conversation.
“Buddy took a check, I ain’t even mad at him,” Jay-Z rapped before suggesting Kaepernick’s 2019 NFL settlement restricted what he could publicly say about the league.
Kaepernick disputed that characterization. He told NBC News’ Lester Holt that he did not sign a non-disparagement agreement when his collusion case against the NFL was settled in 2019. The NFL’s announcement of the settlement said the resolution was subject to a confidentiality agreement, but the financial terms were never publicly disclosed.
The Jay-Z Kaepernick feud is also being reignited by Target. The retailer released an exclusive 30th anniversary edition of Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt” in June, according to Target’s product listing. The partnership arrived after Target announced in 2025 that it was concluding several diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and changing other corporate programs. In its own annual reporting, Target acknowledged that the changes generated negative reactions and consumer boycotts.
Kaepernick is taking a different approach. NBC News reported that a spokesperson confirmed his upcoming memoir, “The Perilous Fight,” will not be sold through Target stores. His publishing company says the memoir is scheduled for September 15, while the National Association of Black Bookstores is partnering with him on his book tour. Kaepernick Publishing is also directing customers toward Black-owned bookstores.
That distance between the two men would have been difficult to imagine in 2017.
At the time, Jay-Z was among Kaepernick’s most visible celebrity supporters. Jay-Z dedicated “The Story of O.J.” to Kaepernick during the Meadows Music and Arts Festival that September. Weeks later, Pitchfork reported that he wore a Colin Kaepernick jersey while performing on “Saturday Night Live.”
Kaepernick, meanwhile, was already out of the NFL.
Despite the shorthand sometimes used to describe his departure, Kaepernick was not formally fired by the 49ers after his protest. According to ESPN, he exercised an option to leave his contract in March 2017 and become a free agent. Then 49ers general manager John Lynch also said the team would have released Kaepernick under his existing contract if he had not opted out.
Kaepernick never signed with another NFL team. In October 2017, he filed a grievance accusing NFL owners of colluding to deny him employment because of his activism. The NFL consistently disputed the suggestion that teams were collectively blackballing him. The case ultimately ended with the confidential 2019 settlement.
The relationship between Jay-Z and Kaepernick changed that same year dramatically.
In August 2019, the NFL announced a multiyear agreement with Roc Nation that gave Jay-Z’s company a major role in league entertainment while also connecting Roc Nation with the NFL’s Inspire Change social justice initiative. The agreement eventually put Roc Nation at the center of the Super Bowl halftime show operation.
Jay-Z defended that decision while acknowledging Kaepernick’s protest.
“I think we have moved past kneeling. I think it’s time for action,” he said. “We forget that Colin’s whole thing was to bring attention to social injustice. In that case, this is a success. This is the next phase.”
The comments triggered immediate criticism from people who believed Kaepernick remained without an NFL job while the league was now entering a lucrative cultural partnership with one of his former supporters.
According to NBC News’ account of “The Perilous Fight,” Kaepernick writes that Jay-Z informed him about the Roc Nation agreement only after the deal was already complete. Kaepernick says he responded directly.
“I just want you to know, one, you’re serving the culture up to a bunch of racists and, two, they don’t care about you,” Kaepernick wrote. “You’re the music guy to them. They quite literally need a Black face—and have said as much.”
The Jay-Z Kaepernick feud now sits at the intersection of two debates that have followed both men for years: whether change is best pursued by confronting powerful institutions from the outside or gaining influence from within them.
Kaepernick has continued to frame his NFL departure as retaliation for his protest. Addressing Jay-Z’s relationship with the league, he told NBC News, “He has built the alignment with the NFL, the NFL that has blackballed me, the same NFL that, in a players-owners meeting in 2017, said we need a Black face to help us get rid of the protests.” NBC News noted that the NFL has long denied Kaepernick’s blackballing allegation.
Kaepernick also said his decision not to immediately respond to Jay-Z’s Yankee Stadium remarks was intentional.
“I haven’t publicly spoken about him in any matter, but it speaks to the level of impact that people are having and being able to continue to move not only individuals but corporations,” he said.
For Kaepernick, the current argument appears to be less about trading insults with Jay-Z than challenging the narrative surrounding what happened after he took a knee and what powerful institutions have done with the movement that followed.
“I understand why he’s trying to do reputational recovery. I get it. I don’t agree with the actions, but I’m also not gonna respond to everything that’s said about me, because I also believe the actions and the work that I do will speak for themselves.”
