The controversy surrounding Super Bowl LIIIās halftime show continues, as Colin Kaepernickās attorney
Mark Geragos called Maroon 5 frontman
Adam Levineās rationalization on his participation āa cop out.ā
Speaking on Good Morning America on Friday, Geragos called on Levine to admit what heās doing by appearing in the NFL Super Bowl halftime.
āIf youāre going to cross this idealogical or intellectual picket line, then own it, and Adam Levine certainly isnāt owning it,ā Geragos said. āItās a cop-out when you start talking about, āIām not a politician; Iām just doing the music.ā Most of the musicians who have any kind of consciousness whatsoever understand whatās going on here.ā
Geragos was responding to comments Levine made on Thursday in an
Entertainment Tonight interview, where he said, āNo one put more thought and love into this than I didā¦I spoke to many people. Most importantly, though, I silenced all the noise and listened to myself, and made my decision about how I felt.ā
Levine added: āWeād like to move on from it andā¦speak through the music.ā He seemed to promise that his show would acknowledge the protests against the NFL, which include national anthem kneelers and Kaepernickās apparent ban from the league for being the initial leader of the kneeling movement.
āThey will be [heard] ā thatās all I want to say because I donāt want to spoil anything,ā Levine said. āAnd once again, I like to think that people know where I stand as a human being after two decades doing thisā¦Iām not a public speaker. I do speak, but itās through the music. My lifeās work and what I put out into the universe has been positive and hopefully inspiring ā¦ So, what I would say is, you know, we are going to do what we keep on doing, hopefully without becoming politicians and continuing to use the one voice we know how to use properly.ā
Other performers have either declined to participate in the halftime show because of concerns over the NFLās treatment of kneeling protesters and Kaepernick. Rihanna allegedly turned down a performance, while Jay-Z said in a song that he wouldnāt participate. The halftime show will feature Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Outkastās Big Boi.
The Grammy-nominated performer Cardi B told the Associated Press on Friday that she had āmixed feelingsā about an offer to perform, eventually declining. She is appearing at a party in Atlanta in the pre-Super Bowl run-up.
