NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed sexual assault allegations brought against rapper Jay-Z, whose company Roc Nation produces the Super Bowl halftime show.
Goodell said Wednesday the league’s partnership with the rapper and Roc Nation is ‘not changing,’ three days after Jay-Z was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl alongside Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in 2000.
‘We’re aware of the civil allegation, and Jay-Z’s really strong response to that,’ Goodell said during a press conference on Wednesday. ‘We know that obviously litigation is happening now. But from our standpoint, our relationship is not changing with them, including our preparation for the next Super Bowl.’
In an amended lawsuit filed Sunday by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee, an Alabama woman — identified anonymously as Jane Doe — claims the billionaire music mogul, born Shawn Carter, and Combs drugged and raped her at an after-party following the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2000. The woman brought a lawsuit against Combs in October for the alleged assault.
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Jay-Z, who was 30 at the time of the alleged assault and is now 55, vehemently denied the allegations brought against him and called the lawsuit a ‘blackmail attempt’ in a statement Sunday.
Some social media users called on the NFL to cut ties with Jay-Z and Roc Nation following the allegations, but Goodell said Roc Nation has ‘provided a lot of value’ for the league.
‘They’re getting incredibly comfortable with not just the Super Bowl but other events that they’ve helped us on and helped us with,’ Goodell said. ‘They’ve been helpful in the social justice area to us on many occasions.’
The NFL tapped Roc Nation as the league’s live music entertainment strategist in 2019, as part of the NFL’s ‘Inspire Change’ initiative. The social justice initiative aims at ‘reducing barriers to opportunity, particularly in communities of color, and showcasing how the NFL family is working together to create positive change,’ the league says. The NFL and Roc Nation extended its partnership in October.
In September, Kendrick Lamar was announced as the Super Bowl halftime show headliner. Super Bowl 59 is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
Jay-Z’s wife Beyonce will perform during halftime of the Christmas Day matchup between the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens, which will broadcast exclusively on Netflix.
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