Celebrities Who Turned Down Super Bowl Appearances: Gloria Estefan, Rihanna, Jay Z, More

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Celebrities Who Turned Down Super Bowl Appearances: Gloria Estefan, Rihanna, Jay Z, More

Though many musicians would jump at the chance to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, Gloria Estefan just couldn't be bothered to deal with all of the preparation involved. "I didn’t want to go on a diet in December," the "Get on Your Feet" singer joked during a June 2022 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen after confirming that she turned down the chance to perform with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira two years prior. Estefan is far from the first performer to speak out about skipping the event. In February 2020, Jay-Z revealed that he had previously been asked to perform at the halftime show — provided that he include "Run This Town" in his set and invite both Kanye West and Rihanna onstage with him. “Of course I would have [asked them],” he told The New York Times at the time, "but I said, 'No, you get me.’ That is not how you go about it, telling someone that they’re going to do the halftime show contingent on who they bring. I said forget it. It was a principle thing." He continued: “The problem with the NFL is [they] all think hip-hop is still a fad when hip-hop has been the dominant music form around the world for 20 years." Even after he was brought on by the league to be the official live music entertainment strategist in 2019, Jay-Z has continued to call out the NFL for the way they approach the halftime show. "We love each other. Like, not secretly, like publicly, we love each other," Snoop Dogg, who performed in February 2022 alongside Dr. Dre, said in a March interview with Tidal, revealing that the "99 Problems" rapper stepped in when censors threatened the planned show. "For him to go to bat for us and tell the NFL, ‘F*** that. They perform or I quit,’ that was the most gangster s*** out of everything." Keep scrolling to see more stars who have turned down the Super Bowl:

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Celebrities Who Turned Down Super Bowl Appearances: Gloria Estefan, Rihanna, Jay Z, More

Though many musicians would jump at the chance to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, Gloria Estefan just couldn't be bothered to deal with all of the preparation involved. "I didn’t want to go on a diet in December," the "Get on Your Feet" singer joked during a June 2022 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen after confirming that she turned down the chance to perform with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira two years prior. Estefan is far from the first performer to speak out about skipping the event. In February 2020, Jay-Z revealed that he had previously been asked to perform at the halftime show — provided that he include "Run This Town" in his set and invite both Kanye West and Rihanna onstage with him. “Of course I would have [asked them],” he told The New York Times at the time, "but I said, 'No, you get me.’ That is not how you go about it, telling someone that they’re going to do the halftime show contingent on who they bring. I said forget it. It was a principle thing." He continued: “The problem with the NFL is [they] all think hip-hop is still a fad when hip-hop has been the dominant music form around the world for 20 years." Even after he was brought on by the league to be the official live music entertainment strategist in 2019, Jay-Z has continued to call out the NFL for the way they approach the halftime show. "We love each other. Like, not secretly, like publicly, we love each other," Snoop Dogg, who performed in February 2022 alongside Dr. Dre, said in a March interview with Tidal, revealing that the "99 Problems" rapper stepped in when censors threatened the planned show. "For him to go to bat for us and tell the NFL, ‘F*** that. They perform or I quit,’ that was the most gangster s*** out of everything." Keep scrolling to see more stars who have turned down the Super Bowl:

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Gloria Estefan

"I literally would have come out, done ‘Shake Your Body’ [and ‘Conga’] and [be] out," Estefan explained when asked why she chose not to join Lopez and Shakira onstage in 2020. "Plus, I didn’t want to go on a diet in December."

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Rihanna

In October 2018, a source told Us Weekly exclusively that Rihanna turned down an offer to headline the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show because she was upset with the way Colin Kaepernick was treated by the league. “The NFL and CBS really wanted Rihanna to be next year’s performer in Atlanta,” the insider said at the time. “They offered it to her, but she said no because of the kneeling controversy. She doesn’t agree with the NFL’s stance.” Maroon 5 ultimately performed that year, and Rihanna later headlined in 2023.

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Cardi B

After Maroon 5 was confirmed as the 2019 headliner, the NFL asked Cardi B if she would join the band — who she collaborated with on the single "Girls Like You" — during halftime.

“My husband [now ex Offset], he loves football. His kids play football. It’s really hard for him. … He really wants to go to the Super Bowl, but he can’t go to the Super Bowl, because he’s got to stand for something," the New York native told the Associated Press in February 2019 after turning down the gig in support of Kaepernick. "You have to sacrifice that. I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him."

The “WAP” rapper later revealed in a September 2025 interview that she previously turned down the halftime show because she didn’t yet feel her catalog was ready. “I got asked to do the Super Bowl and I denied it,” she told Billboard. “I feel like soon, if I get to do it, I’m going to have more hits. I’m going to be more experienced and I’m going to eat that up.”

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Jay-Z

Before he agreed to work with the NFL, the "Encore" rapper was open about his dislike of the league. "I said no to the Super Bowl / You need me, I don't need you," he famously rapped in his 2018 single "Apes***," which he released with wife Beyoncé as The Carters. "Every night we in the end zone / Tell the NFL we in stadiums too."

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Adele

“First of all, I’m not doing the Super Bowl," the England native told fans at a Los Angeles concert in August 2016. "I mean, come on, that show is not about music. And I don’t really — I can’t dance or anything like that. They were very kind, they did ask me, but I said no." The NFL and halftime show sponsor Pepsi later clarified that they never extended her a formal offer, but her opinion seemingly remains unchanged.

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OutKast

Fans of the legendary hip-hop group were outraged when they weren't chosen to headline in 2017, as the game was held in OutKast's hometown of Atlanta. However, the duo had previously been asked to perform at the Super Bowl, but André 3000 turned it down when the group was asked to shorten their songs. “He said, ‘Nah, can’t do it,'” Big Boi said during a November 2015 appearance on ESPN’s The Dan LeBatard Show. “Hopefully they invite us back." (Big Boi did make a brief appearance during Maroon 5's set two years later.)

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Pink

Despite singing the national anthem at the 2018 Super Bowl, Pink revealed in November 2019 that she turned down an offer to headline the halftime show. "Everybody that does it gets so persecuted," she told Billboard at the time, before adding that she also stood with Kaepernick. "I'd probably take a knee and get carried out."

Pink even offered up a few alternative suggestions that she felt would be a better fit than her. "They should give it to Janet Jackson," she said. "That's who should be doing the Super Bowl ... they should only give it, because of the controversy, to African American or Latina women for a while."