Jay-Z Opens Up About Colin Kaepernick After Announcing NFL Partnership

Jay-Z is getting candid about Colin Kaepernick.

The Roc Nation founder was met with some criticism for his partnership with the NFL, which was considered by some to be a betrayal of the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who refused to stand during the national anthem in 2016 to protest social injustice.

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“As long as real people are being hurt and marginalized and losing family members, then yes, I can take a couple rounds of negative press,” he said of backlash to the New York Times.

He went on to explain that Roc Nation’s growing focus on response to criminal justice reform and abuses has led to this moment.

“No one is saying he hasn’t been done wrong. He was done wrong. I would understand if it was three months ago. But it was three years ago and someone needs to say, ‘What do we do now — because people are still dying?’”

“We didn’t say, ‘Let’s go make some money off the N.F.L.,’” he went on to say.

He also revealed why he passed on doing the halftime show.