Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez is opening up about the company’s decision to partner with the NFL ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI halftime show.
Roc Nation and Pepsi presented the halftime show and produced this year. Perez was part of the team that brought the “moving parts” of the halftime show together. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar are set to headline the first all-hip-hop halftime show.
Roc Nation partnered with the NFL shortly after Colin Kaepernick was basically blocked from the league for protesting police brutality and racism. The deal caused backlash for Roc Nation and Jay-Z, who said he could withstand “a couple rounds of negative press” to bring attention to social injustice.
“It was more than a rough patch,” Perez said during an interview with the LA Times. “And it was a difficult decision for us. They were being accused of all these terrible things that we stand against. We had to say, ‘Wow, they’re being boycotted by artists.’”
“But we obviously decided for going after what we feel is right and what we think we can do to make change,” she continued. “Let’s say for a second that this was a cynical move by the NFL — they just wanted to use us [to repair the league’s image]. OK. As long as we can go in and do things they would not normally do — if we can reach people that we normally wouldn’t reach with a message — then that for us is success.”
And as the Super Bowl nears, the NFL is once again caught up in controversy. Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores recently sued the league over alleged discriminatory hiring practices. When asked about it, Perez told the outlet she wasn’t surprised.
“I wasn’t surprised,” she said. “The number of teams and the number of Black and brown coaches — that’s math. That’s not a point of view. But now it’s out, so let’s talk about it.”
Perez says she doesn’t have the power to demand that the league hire more Black coaches but said it’s not “realistic.” Instead, she’s more interested in “keeping that chair in the room” so she can easily pick up the phone if need be.
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