A years-old disagreement between Colin Kaepernick and Jay-Z is back in the spotlight after the former NFL quarterback responded to the rapper’s remarks about him during a Yankee Stadium freestyle.
Kaepernick addressed the controversy during an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt, arguing that Jay-Z’s decision to revisit their history says something about the lasting impact of criticism surrounding the rapper’s business relationship with the NFL.
The latest chapter began during Jay-Z’s July concerts at Yankee Stadium. While responding to criticism surrounding his business dealings, including an exclusive Reasonable Doubt release through Target, Jay-Z brought Kaepernick into the freestyle and referenced the former quarterback’s 2019 settlement with the NFL.
Jay-Z suggested that the settlement required Kaepernick to agree to a non-disparagement provision. Kaepernick has now directly disputed that claim, saying he did not sign such an agreement when his collusion grievance against the league was settled.
Kaepernick also offered a broader interpretation of why his name surfaced in Jay-Z’s performance.
He argued that the criticism Jay-Z received after Roc Nation partnered with the NFL in 2019 continues to follow the rapper years later. Kaepernick described Jay-Z’s latest comments as an attempt to reposition the conversation and said he believes they reflect a “guilty conscience.”
The disagreement carries extra weight because Jay-Z was once a prominent public supporter of Kaepernick.
Kaepernick became a national figure after kneeling during the national anthem while playing for the San Francisco 49ers to protest racial injustice and police brutality. Jay-Z publicly supported him during that period.
Their paths eventually diverged.
In 2019, Roc Nation entered a partnership with the NFL involving entertainment programming and social initiatives. Jay-Z argued at the time that the conversation needed to move beyond the act of kneeling and toward concrete action.
Kaepernick has remained critical of the league and maintains that the NFL blackballed him. The NFL has denied that allegation.
Now another corporate relationship has put the two men on opposite sides of a public debate.
Jay-Z faced criticism over an exclusive edition of his landmark debut album Reasonable Doubt being offered through Target as the retailer faced a boycott from some Black consumers following changes to its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Kaepernick is taking a different route with his own upcoming release.
His memoir, The Perilous Fight, will not be sold through Target, according to his representative. His book tour is instead working with the National Association of Black Bookstores, connecting the project with Black-owned booksellers around the country.
Kaepernick said he did not feel compelled to immediately answer Jay-Z’s freestyle, explaining that he does not intend to respond publicly every time someone criticizes or attempts to discredit him. He would rather point to his work and actions.
That leaves the two influential figures presenting sharply different ideas about activism, corporate relationships and how change can be pursued from inside or outside major institutions.
Nearly a decade after Kaepernick first took a knee, that argument clearly has not been settled.
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Photo Credit: Brian Friedman / Shutterstock.com
